The Case of the Bone Struck Heart (Rewritten and Revamped)
by stanleydoodles
Summary: Third in its series. Kylie Gibbs has started a new life, one with out Sherlock Holmes and London. She is happy; satisfied even. But one case reemerging and someone from her past may cause the stars to cross once more.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay guys! Next book in the series! I hope you guys have enjoyed the first two and will hopefully continue enjoying this series!**

**Please let me know your thoughts!**

Kylie ran down the beach, enjoying the how the soft sand was causing that wonderful burning sensation in the muscles of her legs as she breathed in the fresh ocean air of San Diego. It was one of her favorite things about living in this beach city; runs on the beach in the morning, fresh air and sunshine. It couldn't't be more different than London.

It had been nearly seven months since she had left London. She had spent a week or two in DC before moving to San Diego, and if she had to be honest with herself, it had been one of the best decisions she had ever made.

She slowed to a stop, catching her breath as she walked to her car, happy with her decision to run in a different spot today than usual, despite missing her running partner.

She unlocked her car, pulling off her iPod and head phones, tossing them into the car with her shirt and shorts, grabbing her towel as she went back down to the beach to catch a few rays on this beautiful day.

Kylie found the perfect spot, laid her towel down and smiled to herself as she laid down and felt the sun hit her now tanned skin.

_This was the life..._

She couldn't complain. She had found that she had missed parts of London, but being here had made it a little easier to start to move on. She had a wonderful job with the FBI in a wonderful town. She was working with her old partner again... Well, on second thought she wasn't sure if that was such a good thing anymore.

She had been partnered with Charlie Edwards right after she had graduated George Washington University. Their partnership had had a rough start, but eventually they had gotten along... Charlie reminded her far too much of DiNozzo for them not to. When Kylie had left DC for London, he had transferred around, finally landing in San Diego where he remained without a partner as no one else could stand to work with him, which is most likely why she had been able to get the job so quickly.

"Well," a male voice said as her sun was blocked by someone's shadow, "this is certainly a lovely sight to see in the morning. Is this what you always do? Because honestly, if I had known that I would actually agree to go running with you on your morning marathons."

Kylie cracked an eye open, rolling her eyes as she saw a tall, extremely good looking blonde man smiling down at her.

"Dear God, Charlie," she said to him, verbally berating him for leering at her, "first of all... This is creepy, second of all, I do not run marathons every morning and a little running would do you good every now and then, and third of all, how the hell did you find me?"

"You do run a marathon daily, its sad how much sexual tension you have to run off," Charlie commented as he looked around the beach, eyeing everyone, "And I know where you run, you invite me all the time."

Kylie sat up, frowning at her partner as she took off her sunglasses, "Yes, but you never listen and I haven't run this loop before."

"Hmm?" Charlie asked as he turned to look at her, not listening to her prior comment, causing her to sigh and roll her eyes, which caused him to smirk and laugh in response.

"Naw I traced your cell," Charlie admitted.

"Great, now you are following me?" Kylie asked as she sat up, taking the hand Charlie had offered to help her up.

"No, I only save that for the really hot girls," Charlie said with a grin as he pulled her up to a standing position, "We have a case."

Kylie raised an eyebrow at him as she grabbed her towel and replaced her sunglasses as they walked back to her car, "So, instead of calling me, you had to come down here and get me yourself? I have a phone you know?"

"I just wanted to see your lovely face this early in the morning," he replied as his eyes followed a busty blonde jog past him, waving at him as he did.

Kylie rolled her eyes, "Yeah, you just wanted to see my face not be a sex addicted pervert on the beach."

"I would never do that. I am a gentleman," he objected as they reached her car, "We need to hurry to get to the crime scene."

Kylie looked at him, fully suspicious now, "You never want to hurry to get to a scene. What's the scene? A bimbo conference?"

Charlie rolled his eyes at her, slightly insulted as he handed Kylie her go bag, "I actually do work sometimes. Hurry up and shower and get dressed. We don't want the trail to run cold."

***#() )_ _ )#_$**

Kylie stepped out of the car as they arrived on the crime scene, grabbing her bag out of the back. She turned around and read the large sign, pausing as she groaned internally.

"Yeah," she glared at Charlie as he walked out eagerly, not looking unlike a kid in a candy store, "You officially need psychiatric help."

"Why?" Charlie said as he smiled looking around, "because it's a beautiful day outside? And I'm lucky enough to have a job where I am able to enjoy the weather."

"No," Kylie said bluntly as they walked towards the crowd of officers and crime scene tape, "Because you are a pervert and you couldn't wait to get to the crime scene because theres a bikini contest."

Charlie smiled at the bust women strolling past in a bikini, "There's a bikini contest here?"

"Charlie there is a large sign that literally says bikini contest and you have that weird pervert plan smile that you get."

"Oh, is there?"

Kylie rolled her eyes, "I don't know whether or not to throw up, or shoot myself because I'm in your perverted paradise."

"Women, little to no clothing, on a beach, bronzed skin glistening as they oil up the models… God, I love my job," Charlie told her as he gave another girl a passing smile.

"Yeah, I decided on vomit," Kylie declared, "You are a pig."

Charlie just turned and grinned at her, causing her to roll her eyes and smile as she shook her head.

"What do we got?" Kylie asked as they approached the detective.

"Hey Doc, Edwards," Detective Hernandez said as he turned around and looked at them, "Victim is in there. White female, mid twenties… but I have to warn you, its pretty gruesome."

"I'm sure the Doc has a solid stomach," detective Gabriel Jones said as she walked out and glared at Charlie, "I mean she has to tolerate this bastard every day and Lord knows that has to be nauseating."

Kylie turned and looked at Charlie inquiringly.

"Hey…" Charlie said, clearly trying to remember where he had seen her before.

"Gabbie," the detective said angrily as she thrusted some bagged evidence at him, "You don't even remember my name. Classy."

Detective Hernandez laughed and shook his head as Kylie rolled her eyes and walked into the public beach restroom which was apparently their crime scene.

Charlie bit his lip and followed her in to the crime scene.

"Let me guess," Kylie asked as she donned gloves and set down her bag, "you slept with her?"

Charlie scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Uh, apparently."

"And you never called her?"

No answer.

"Ugh! Seriously Charlie?" Kylie complained, "You seriously need to stop sleeping with people that we work with."

"Where else am I supposed to meet people?" Charlie asked as they peered into the stall where an auburn haired woman lay face down in a blue bathing suit, her body twisted and bloodied in a peculiar fashion.

"Oh, I don't know… a bar? A sports league? Anything! Just don't sleep with people we work with," Kylie told him as she walked into the stall to examine the body a little closer.

"Sorry, she's hot."

"Oh so you just sleep with her and never call her again, then expect for everything to be all fine and dandy when we have to work with them?" Kylie asked sarcastically as she rolled the body over, freezing at the sight.

"Oh wait," Charlie stated sarcastically, "Why don't you tell me how you met your last two ex's? … Hey, that's the same swimsuit you had on?" Charlie noted as he looked up seeing a paled Kylie, "You okay?"

Kylie just looked at they body in a frozen trance. The auburn haired woman's hair was freashly dyed. Her throat was slit and she had been gutted like a fish, organs falling out onto the floor. Small crosses were cut into her body and most disturbingly of all, someone had carved the words, I'M BACK into her body.

"Oh God," Kylie muttered under her breath before looking back up at Charlie, "Did Hernandez find any ID? What did this woman do for a living?"

Charlie gave her a strange look, "That's what you usually tell me. What's going on Ky?"

"Just… go ask Charlie," Kylie said in frozen shock.

"Okay… okay," Charlie said throwing up his hands in defense before wandering out.

Kylie stared at the body trying to get herself to breathe again.

_It couldn't be…._

According to Lestrade, John and Mary, the Ripper Copy-cat had stopped killing months ago. That timeline simply happened to coincide with Kylie leaving London, but that had to just be random chance…

_Not so random when a similar victim shows up in San Diego._

_Wearing the same swim suit you had been wearing that morning…_

"Okay," Charlie announced as he walked back into the restroom, "According to Hernandez, the victim was a model, but she had a prior record. Back in 2009 she was arrested for…"

"Prostitution," Kylie finished as she stood up and took off her gloves.

Charlie looked at her, taken aback, "Uh, yeah. How did you know that?'

"This has to be a coincidence," Kylie muttered as she stepped back and ran a hand through her hair, "it has to be."

"What are you talking about? What is?"

"Nothing, it has to be."

"Bullshit. Talk to me Kylie, whats freaking you out?"

Kylie looked at him and then sighed, "My last case in London. It was a Ripper copy-cat case. He stalked and chose his victims while essentially recreating the murders the Ripper actually preformed. Though they differ in violence, he had almost all of the details correct, with one exception… They all had dyed auburn hair and either blue eyes or blue contact lenses."

Charlie gaped at her, "Wait, you are telling me that some crazy dude dressed up the victims to look like you? Kylie, this is serious."

"It all stopped when I left…"

"How do you know that?"

Kylie glared at her partner, "I do talk to my friends back there still."

"Well apparently he never stopped."

Kylie sighed and ran a hand through her hair once more, "He stopped killing in London. The case was huge there. All of Scotland Yard was on it. The guy disappeared and went under the radar… but now, he may be back."

"May?" Charlie asked incredulously, "The guy literally carved 'I'M BACK' onto the girl's chest."

"I could just be a coincidence," Kylie said quietly, trying to convince herself more so than Charlie.

"Uh, its definitely not," Charlie said as he grabbed her bag and pulled her out of the restroom, "We have to call this in. We need all the files on the other victims and a profile if this guy really is back."

"No!" Kylie said a little too quickly stopping in her tracks, causing Charlie to look at her inquiringly, "As for the files, but whatever you do, do not invite them to help with the case."

Charlie raised an eyebrow at her, "Why? I thought you left on good terms and kept in touch with people there?"

"I do, but you know how the upper levels gets with international cases… and…"

"You love pissing them off. Why don't you want them here? Its their jurisdiction if the crime occurred there first…." Charlie trailed off as realization and a grin came over his face, "But that's not it. This is all over your ex, isn't it?"

Kylie shut her eyes and looked up at the sky in frustration and annoyance.

_She should have never opened her mouth…_

Charlie laughed at her reaction, knowing that he was right, "You just want to keep avoiding your ex. Well look who is calling the kettle black now, miss you-should-never-date-people-you-work-with."

"Okay, first of all, he didn't even work for the Yard," Kylie argued furiously as she stomped out of the crime scene and back towards the car.

Charlie followed like a happy puppy as he motioned to Hernandez that they would take the scene, following Kylie back to the car, "You told me you left because you couldn't work with him anymore."

"I didn't…" Kylie began before stopping herself, realizing she was digging herself into a debate that she couldn't get herself out of, "okay, he consulted frequently."

Charlie gave her a look.

Kylie groaned, "FINE! On nearly every case, but STILL we did not work together."

"The more you talk, the more it proves that you are a giant hypocrite," Charlie grinned as he unlocked the car and tossed in her bag.

"Shut up before I punch that grin off your face," Kylie snapped as she got into the car, causing Charlie to laugh as he got in as well.

**&amp;^ #*&amp; (*# ()**

"So why did the two of you break up again anyways?" Charlie asked as they entered the FBI building.

Kylie rolled her eyes. This was the last thing that she wanted… Charlie nagging her for information about Sherlock.

"Differences," she snapped as she pressed the elevator button.

"Yeah," Charlie commented dryly, "And Bert and Ernie were shunned on Sesame Street because of differences."

Kylie gave him a strange look as they stepped onto the elevator, taking the short ride to their floor.

"Come on Kylie!" Charlie whined, "I'm your partner! You are supposed to tell me these things."

"I don't have to tell you anything and this is most definitely not work or case related."

"That hurts, we are friends."

"We are, but most days, I don't know why Charlie."

"Its my sarcasm, whit, and charm," Charlie grinned at her flirtaously.

"Its apparently something," she muttered as she stepped off onto their floor.

"Okay, well why did you two break up?" Charlie prodded further, "Because differences definitely isn't the most descriptive term."

"Look, will you drop it already?" Kylie asked as she made her way to her corner office on the floor, Charlie still following her.

"I cant drop it," Charlie told her with a smart-assed smile, "It has to do with the case now. You have to tell me."

Kylie walked into her office, glaring at the ceiling as she did before she threw down her bag and rounded on Charlie, "Charlie, I said drop it. Look, I left London to get over him. The last thing I need is for you to keep bringing him up. That is nearly as bad as him being here. I hurt him. I apologized, I groveled and he still doesn't want me back. He resents me for it and the only way for me to deal with that right now is to move across a ocean and continent to avoid him so that I can move on and make peace with the fact that I no longer matter to a man I fell in love with."

Charlie stared at her for a moment, before his eyes flitted to something behind her with interest.

Kylie looked at him strangely, as to inquire about this new found ADD.

"Oh, I wouldn't say you no longer matter," a deep voice said from behind her, "Quite the opposite in fact."

Kylie stiffened as shock ran through her veins.

_She knew that voice…._

_Shit._

**Review? Pretty please?**


	2. Chapter 2

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**Here's a nice long one for you!**

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Kylie stiffened instantly upon hearing a voice from her past that she never thought she would ever hear again.

She slowly turned around, facing a man she hadn't seen in months.

"Hello Miss Gibbs, good to see you," the man greeted with a smile.

"Mycroft," Kylie greeted curtly at the elder Holmes who was currently leaning against her desk with a smile.

She couldn't lie to herself, she was in near shock the elder Holmes was even here. He hadn't spoken to or interfered in Kylie's life since her breakup with Sherlock all of those months ago. She had been bewildered but thankful he hadn't tried to interfere in their relationship.

"I'm sorry, do you know her ex?" Charlie asked his face lighting up as he looked Mycroft over, "You look a little old to be her ex, but I've seen her be attracted to weirder."

Kylie without turning around, shut the door in Charlie's face, locking it behind her.

Charlie yelped outside the door and immediately began trying to jiggle the handle, but that did not phase Kylie as she stared at Mycroft in slight shock.

"What are you doing here Mycroft?"

Mycroft stared over at Charlie banging on the door before his eyes flicked back to Kylie, a smile coming over his face.

"I was just in the area."

"Yeah," Kylie said skeptically, crossing her arms, "I don't believe that for a second."

"You don't trust me?"

"Uh, no. You're a politician. You literally lie for a living and you always have an underlying agenda."

Mycroft laughed lightly, "You always were a clever girl, Kyleigha."

"Kyleigha?" Kylie asked, "I move away and done speak to you for months and now you start calling me by my first name."

Mycroft just stared at her.

"I thought it about time to stop formalities as my brother is completely infatuated with you."

"Is?" Kylie scoffed as she ran a hand through her hair, trying to shove the pain away, "Sherlock and I broke up months ago, Mycroft. Months. During that time, I was still in London. He barely spoke to me. He was a complete dick to me. You haven't spoken to me since before we broke up and I had to MOVE Mycroft. MOVE to get away from him because he insisted that there was no chance that he could forgive me."

"He never said that," Mycroft insisted.

Kylie laughed, "He might as well have. We haven't spoken in months. I would be shocked if I was even still in his mind palace."

Mycroft smirked and looked down before looking back up at her, "My brother has always had a very odd way of showing remorse and sadness, all of which he has done in great amounts much more openly since you have left London."

Kylie scoffed and leaned up against the door, fighting the tears she so wanted to allow out, "I wish I could believe that Mycroft."

"He's pining after you."

Kylie scoffed once more, feeling it was becoming a habit as Mycroft was in the room. She walked to her computer, firing it up and faking checking her email as she was hoping he would just go away.

She saw him sit down in the chair across from her, staring at her as she kept typing.

She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"What?" she snapped.

"He is pining after you, Kyleigha."

"Sherlock does not pine Mycroft," Kylie told him firmly, "You obviously don't know your brother as well as you think you do."

"He is in his own way," Mycroft told her as he twirled his umbrella, "He barely eats."

"… he barely ate before I left."

"… He's been picky about his cases…"

"Seriously, have you met your brother? You are literally describing him."

"He's argumentative…"

"You really have never met him, have you?"

"He's been composing."

Kylie's body went numb with shock. She had never seen him compose. She had only heard about it from John as a sign of one of his 'danger' nights. He had told her he thought it was a sign of mourning and anger, but this was Sherlock they were talking about, no one really knew.

"By now, I believe he has composed at least 37 concertos according to John."

Kylie remained silent, as she stared at him in shock.

_Composing…?_

Mycroft smiled as he knew he was getting to her.

"He misses you."

_No…. don't listen to him. You are NOT starting this._

Kylie stared at her computer, setting her gaze, "He doesn't Mycroft."

_Push it away. He doesn't… don't fall for it. _

"You were good for him," Mycroft pressed further, causing Kylie to snap.

"What do you want from me Mycroft!? Hmm? I hurt him, and I know I made a mistake, Lord knows I made a mistake. But I apologized, I put up with his crap for months only to grovel at his feet once more to take me back. I'm not proud of it, but I cared about him far too much just to give up on it like that. He rejected me and I had to respect that. It's his decision and not mine."

"You should go back to London."

Kylie looked up at him, narrowing her eyes as him as she knew something was up. He knew something she didn't."

"I'm happy here in San Diego Mycroft. If Sherlock is wanting to talk to me or see me, which I doubt he is, then he can be a grown up and pick up a phone and call me. Or, if he prefers, send me an obscure package with a squash ball and random ancient philosopher's name on it."

"That was quite obvious."

Kylie glared at him, "I know you have some hidden agenda, so either spit it out or get the hell out of my office. I have a case."

Mycroft smiled at her. This woman was quite perfect for his little brother.

"Have you spoken to John lately?"

Kylie narrowed her eyes at him, "Yes, I always kept in touch with him, Lestrade, and Mary…."

Kylie trailed off as everything clicked.

_That rat bastard…_

"You manipulative son of a bitch," Kylie said as she glowered at him, "John is proposing any day now. You want me to move back to London and take John's place as Sherlock's babysitter. We both know how it will go over when John and Mary break the news that they are engaged and you want me there as a distraction so that your little brother wont go over the edge and you wont have to deal with it. Do you really expect me to go running back like a pitiful high school girl? No, Mycroft. The answer is no. If you care about him as much as you claim, you would look after your brother rather than trying to pawn him off onto other people. Who knows, maybe if you actually TALKED to him, this wouldn't happen. But, I know that is far too much to ask as you prefer to mother him than be his brother."

Mycroft just smiled at her.

"You really are quite brilliant; much more than my brother realizes," he said as he stood up and moving towards the door, "Good luck with your case Miss Gibbs. It was lovely seeing you."

Kylie shook her head and scoffed, "I wish I could say the same Mycroft."

With one last smile, Mycroft walked out the door, twirling his umbrella as he went.

She sighed and stared at the wall in frustration.

She eyed Mycroft walking out only to see Charlie following him like an annoying puppy, quizzing him about his link to Sherlock most likely. She rolled her eyes and was about to get up to follow when a gruff looking bull-dog of a man strolled into her office.

"GIBBS!" the man said gruffly, easily stating his authority, "Did I hear that you and Edwards discovered a serial killer from across the pond?"

"Sir…"

"No, because if two of my agents had found an international serial killer, they would have been sure to notify me right away!"

Kylie sighed, prepping herself from what she knew was about to come with Director Hastings in her office.

Director Todd Hastings was a peculiar man. He was a man of authority and valued power more than anything else. If there was one thing that pissed him off more than anything else, it was when he was left out of the loop. Those who failed to notify him about nearly everything endured a military style ass-chewing from a three-star general whom suddenly retired from the military and had a career change to the FBI.

"EDWARDS!" Hastings yelled loudly, startling nearly everyone in the office.

A moment later, Charlie walked towards Kylie's office, looking slightly fearful.

"Sir, we just made the connection and was about to notify…" Kylie began once more, making eye contact with Charlie as he walked in.

"I don't want to hear it!" Hastings continued as the vein began popping out on his forehead, "the second you even think that there may be a connection, you let me know. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," both Kylie and Charlie replied.

"Now," Hastings stated as he crossed his arms, confidant his point had gotten across, "this case? It's a Jack the Ripper copy cat?"

"Yeah, he was killing in London when I was still working over there. The guy was good; precise, careful, never left anything behind except for some saliva on a kidney that was mailed to me, but that was a dead end. All of our leads ended up with nothing. From what I heard the guy disappeared right after I left."

"Have you notified Scotland Yard yet?" Hastings asked.

Kylie felt Charlie's eyes immediately on her.

"No, not yet," Charlie answered as Kylie looked down.

"Why not? Call them. Get them out here. The last thing I want is a serial killer on the loose."

With that, Hastings stormed out, leaving Charlie and Kylie behind.

Charlie turned back and stared at Kylie, smiling at her as he shoved his hands into his pockets, "Looks like I get to meet your ex after all."

***&amp;(* #( )() #***

John couldn't wipe the smile off of his face as he made his way back home from the store down the street. Things couldn't be going better for him.

Last night, Mary had agreed to marry him. The love of his life had agreed to become his wife. It was something that he had never quite expected to happen; though he also had never believed that someone as perfect as Mary even existed.

She was beautiful, sharp, full of life, could tolerate and get along with Sherlock by some miracle of God…

John sighed. Since Kylie left it had been a rough road for his friend. He had been moody, rash, a drama queen, refusing to take cases right and left yet complaining of boredom every chance he got. He had resorted to mass amounts of composing and from what Mary had been texting him, now wedding planning.

This morning had been odd. The consulting detective had known that John had had a ring for quite a while now, but the moment they had walked in the door last night, he had made a snide, rude comment before John and Mary had escaped up to their room. John didn't know what had happened with Sherlock later that night, but the next morning, Sherlock had a stack of wedding magazines and an assorted arrangement of origami napkins that he had folded and numbered as choices for Mary.

_That had taken a moment to realize it wasn't actually a dream…_

John had taken that moment to slip out for his shift at the hospital, leaving Mary with a nearly manic Sherlock, whom over the last few months, she had proven that she could handle.

Mary was simply amazing to him. Other than Kylie, she was the first woman in his life to actually get on with Sherlock quite well. It had taken a bit and a slight bit of resentment after Kylie had left, but John had left them alone one night (not by choice, his damn sister had an emergency then disappeared again) and when he had gotten back, the two of them had been getting along famously. Every time he asked Mary what had happened, she would just smirk at him before kissing his cheek and changing the subject. Neither would tell him, and honestly he didn't care; he just wanted to know how the love of his life had won his friend over.

It didn't matter. None of it mattered. He was happy. He was living a dream.

John pushed the door open and walked up the hall to the stairs of Baker street.

BANG BANG BANG

Shock ran through John's body as he realized that sound.

_Gun shots._

John dropped the bags, rushing up the stairs and flinging the door open, praying that neither Mary nor Sherlock was dead on the ground.

The door flung open and he saw quite the opposite of that. In fact he found a very bored and irritable Sherlock shooting the wall in various positions while his fiancé was sitting in an armchair, flipping casually through a wedding magazine, bookmarking pages as she wasn't bothered in the slightest by the consulting detective's behavior.

"What in the HELL?" John yelled as he grabbed the gun away from Sherlock, putting the safety back on quickly.

Sherlock sighed in distressed, having his fun taken away by John.

"Bored," he muttered disdainfully as he flopped down in the chair.

"You're bored? You could HAVE SHOT MARY!" John yelled at him.

"He wasn't going to shoot me, John," Mary told him as she took another sip of her wine and flipped the page.

John stared at his fiancé in disbelief.

"What? Are you really taking his side?"

"I'm just saying, he's your best friend. He wouldn't shoot me. Plus, he was helping me all day. That and he pays rent, I don't, so if he wants to shoot the wall, who am I do stop him?"

John gaped as Sherlock smirked to himself.

"I love you, but I do not understand you!"

Mary looked up and smiled at him.

John shut his eyes and shook his head in frustration.

"You were bored, so you shot the damn wall?"

"The wall had it coming," Sherlock shrugged.

John rolled his eyes and eyed the latest untouched folder that Sherlock hadn't even opened yet.

This had been a frequent habit of Sherlock lately. Any case that was even slightly decomposed and unrecognizable he would refuse to even touch the case. He had a hypothesis about this; any case or body that had skeletal remains, or any other ones similar to that they had worked on, he would refuse them. He knew he couldn't solve them without Kylie.

"Sherlock, Lestrade brought you this case four days ago, have you even looked at the photos?"

"The case is boring. Not worth my time," Sherlock stated as he picked up the violin and began plucking it.

John sighed. There was no getting through to him.

"You know Lestrade has brought you about 15 cases in the last month and you have only taken about three of them."

"Because only three were worth my time," Sherlock muttered, "Its not my fault that the police are idiots and cannot solve even the most elementary of cases."

"Sherlock," John said slowly, "Its been months now…"

Sherlock jumped up and walked to the window, picking up his bow and turning his back on John.

"Months since what, John?"

Mary made eye contact with her fiancé, silently telling him not to push it right now.

John shut his eyes, cursing his friend's denial, "Since… since Kylie left."

As soon as those words left his mouth, John regretted it as he saw Sherlock stiffen completely before bringing his bow up to play.

"That is completely irrelevant John," Sherlock snapped before he began playing.

John sighed and looked over at Mary. They had been trying to get Sherlock to reach out to Kylie or go after her. He would either lash out, scoff, or say something rude then start composing once more; each piece sadder and more depressing than the last.

He was at a loss of what to do anymore. He had tried tough love, he had tried to distract him with cases, but none of them had interested him. John was afraid he was sneaking drugs again, but there had been no trace of them in the flat and he couldn't find any reasonable reason to inquire about it.

The only thing that he really had interest in was his violin as well as the Ripper case. The photos were still hanging up around the flat. He would catch Sherlock staring at them periodically before he would return to composing once more. John had tried taking the photos down, but each and every time he had tried, Sherlock would nearly rip his head off.

He couldn't pull Sherlock away from his violin or that single case; the last one he and Kylie worked, and the one he couldn't solve.

**^ *&amp; (*!()!(**

Lestrade ran a hand over his face. This case was going to be the death of him. About a week ago, a body had shown up in a house fire. Mary had been ale to say that she was murdered based on the fact that there was a huge knife gash in the victim's throat. But other than that, they had nothing. The forensic anthropologist they were using was based out of France, and the guy was a complete dud, arrogant, and bad at his job; but then again, no one was as good as Kylie.

He had tried to get Sherlock on the case, but he had refused telling him that he had better things to do with his time before going back to tossing a ball against a wall.

He sighed again.

This was a nightmare. He had no consulting detective, a crappy anthropologist, and no leads.

RING RING RING

He ran a hand over his face as he picked up the line, "Detective Inspector Lestrade."

"Hey Greg."

Lestrade sat up straight, in shock at the voice he had just heard over the line.

"Kylie?"

"That's my name," she joked over the line.

"How are you?" Lestrade asked, "I haven't heard from you in ages."

"Alright. How have you been?"

"I've been better," Lestrade laughed, "I miss having you here. I'll tell you that."

"What? Gerarde duPoint cant fill my boots?"

"Uh, no. That guy is a douche bag."

"He's known for that," Kylie commented, "I tried to warn Mary, but every time I brought it up she would go on a rant on how that could have been avoided."

"Well it could be," Lestrade perked up, "I mean are you thinking about coming back?"

"Eh, as much as I miss you guys, I'm happy in San Diego."

"That can be changed."

"I called for a different reason," Kylie admitted, her tone changing.

"What, you didn't call to hear my lovely voice?"

"The ripper Greg, he's back."

Lestrade felt his breath catch in his throat, "What? He showed up in the states? Are you sure? He hasn't killed in months, Kylie."

"I'm positive. A body showed up here with the same method of killing. Throat slit, gutted, dyed auburn hair, blue contacts, and the fact that he engraved the words 'IM BACK' into her chest."

"Seriously?" Lestrade asked leaning back in his chair and rubbing his hand through his hair in shock, "He's in the states?"

"Apparently," Kylie commented, "So how about you bring yourself and all the casefiles to the states so we can catch this SOB? A joint investigation."

"Yeah! Just let me get it cleared and we'll be on the first flight over."

"We?" Kylie asked.

"Oh, yeah, you don't want me bringing John or any of them?"

"It uh…. Only one person I prefer you not bring."

"Sherlock?"

Kylie laughed nervously, "Yeah…"

Lestrade smiled into the phone, "He misses you, you know? He'll never admit it, but he's turned down nearly every case I have brought him since you left."

Kylie laughed through the line, "You are the second person to tell me that today."

"Who was the first?"

"Mycroft. Bastard showed up in my office."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I know."

Lestrade heard a male voice talking to Kylie in the background before she came back on the line.

"Look, Greg, I got to run, but I'll see you soon? Text me your flight details and I'll pick you up?"

"I'll let you know. See you soon!"

Lestrade hung up the phone. He needed to get the files together.

He sat up straight and groaned as he realized something.

_Sherlock had all the case files. _

_Damn him for pitying the bastard._

_How was he going to get them back?_

He was about to stand up when his phone rang once more. He stared at it curiously before picking up the line.

"Detective Inspector Lestrade."

"I'm assuming my partner just spoke to you about the Ripper Copy-cat case?" a man said over the phone, "You were the original lead on the case, correct?"

"Uh, yeah. You're Kylie's partner?"

The man laughed lightly on the other end of the phone, "Yep. Hey did she tell you not to bring that genius ex- boyfriend of hers?"

"Sherlock, yeah…"

"Well you should. She doesn't want him here to make things uncomfortable, but trust me, you'll need them both on it to solve it."

Lestrade frowned.

_That was a strange thing to say…._

"Okay, I'll bring him."

"Great, thanks chap. Meet you soon."

Lestrade hung up the phone and frowned, shaking the man's words from his head. He knew Kylie missed Sherlock and Sherlock missed Kylie; neither of them wanted to admit it.

_Maybe getting those files back would be easier than he thought._

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	3. Chapter 3

**You guys are honestly the best ever! A HUGE thanks to my amazing reviewers: fantansyfreak133, Guest, phoenixJ, TheInfernalPrincess, bored411, popstarJ01, shurfine, dinosauce4, LibbyTaylor, and LatinClover! Honestly if it weren't for you guys, I would have stopped writing ages ago!**

**Here you guys go!**

Lestrade took a breath as he approached the staircase at 221B Baker Street. He could sense that it was not a good time. Pounding and yelling were coming from up the stairs as Sherlock's loud and violent violin music that he played sharply to annoy people.

The door banged open and Mary quickly descended the stairs, huffing to herself slightly with her purse and stack of papers in hand.

She looked up and saw her boss standing there staring at her.

"You here to see one of the two girls upstairs?" Mary asked.

"Uh… yeah…"

"Good luck," Mary said as she patted his chest, "You'll need it. Trust me."

Lestrade watched her walk away and out the door.

He heard the yelling increase as he heard something heavy hit the ground and the violin stop playing.

Lestrade sighed and shut his eyes, saying a silent prayer before he walked up the stairs.

"SHERLOCK! YOU CANNOT KEEP DOING THIS!"

"WHEN WILL YOU GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD THAT THIS DOESN'T MATTER! NOTHING MATTERS JOHN!"

"THINGS DO MATTER! YOU CANNOT JUST LOCK YOURSELF AWAY AND HIDE!"

"I AM NOT HIDING!"

"YES YOU ARE!"

"Guys…"

"I AM NOT! There is nothing else out there in the world for me."

"There's a whole world out there! Just because you are upset about Kylie leaving still."

"This has nothing to do with her and there's no reason you should be bringing that up."

"Oh, yes of course, because she TOTALLY has nothing to do with the woman you fell in love with…."

"I DID NOT LOVE HER! LOVE DOES NOT EXIST JOHN!"

"WE HAVE HAD THIS TALK SHERLOCK! YOU ARE IN DENILE"

"GUYS!"

Both Sherlock and John stopped yelling and stared at Lestrade is shock. Neither of them had realized that Lestrade had been standing there.

Silence.

"Uh, hey Greg," John said quietly, scratching his head awkwardly.

Lestrade turned and stared at Sherlock, looking at him in complete disbelief. The usually clean cut, clean-shaven Sherlock looked as if he hadn't shaved, changed, or showered in days. His usual dark curly hair was crazy looking and lack luster while his unshaven face made him look nearly unrecognizable while dressed in his dressing gown that now had a burn hole in it as well as a large stain.

Sherlock rolled his eyes and flopped down in a chair moodily.

"You want me to solve another stupid case for you?"

Lestrade looked at him incredulously, before turning to look at John for an explanation. John however just crossed his arms and shook his head, looking like a worn out parent.

_Since when are cases and his livelihood stupid…?_

"I, um… no…."

"Then why?"

Lestrade paused as he reflected on the conversation that he had just overheard.

_If he brought up Kylie, he would never get him to go._

"I uh, have a lead on the Ripper Case."

Sherlock's eyes shot open as he sat up and looked at Lestrade with a light and intrigue in his eyes for the first time in months.

"Wait, the Jack the Ripper Copy cat case?" John asked, "That guy stopped killing ages ago!"

"Apparently he struck again…."

"Where?" Sherlock asked as he jumped up.

"Uh.. San Diego…"

"John pack a bag, we are leaving as soon as we can," Sherlock said as he jumped up and rushed into the bathroom.

The door shut and Lestrade looked at John in shock.

"Does he know that that is where Kylie is?" Lestrade asked slowly.

John looked at him with raised eyebrows, shaking his head, "He wont allow anyone to mention her name, let alone talk about it long enough to know where she is currently living…. A body showed up where she is living?"

"Yeah… and so, he has no idea that we are going to where Kylie is, and continuing working the last case with the woman he has been pining over for the last 8 months?"

"Nope."

…

"So, are we agreeing that we aren't going to tell him?"

John looked over at Lestrade, "Its getting him to shower. So, no. We aren't going to tell him."

***(&amp;(# (*#() ) #()_**

Kylie walked into the office running a hand through her much shorter hair uncomfortably.

_Change is good. You need to move on, change is good. _

The re-emergence of the Ripper Copy cat had left her in a tizzy. Thoughts of Sherlock Holmes had begun to reinfiltrate her mind. Seeing Mycroft once more hadn't helped that at all. The last few nights she hadn't been able to sleep at all. She had picked up her phone and nearly dialed his number at least three times an hour before convincing herself that she needed to let him go.

_Let him go. You have to. Its over, let it go._

_You cant… You know you cant let him go. _

_You have to. _

She sighed and toyed with the end of her freshly cut hair. She had had a hair appointment yesterday after work and with her thoughts mainly on a certain dark-haired British native she had made the rash decision to chop her long auburn locks. The hair that had been long enough to reach towards the bottom of her rib cage, was now in a long bob, brushing her shoulders.

She wasn't comfortable with it, she regretted cutting it, but a quote her hair dresser had told her stuck in her mind.

'_A Woman who cuts her hair is ready to change her life'_

She needed to change. She couldn't live longing for a man that borderline hated her and was a full continent away. She had changed her looks, and now, this case from her past was going to be the first step in putting her past behind her and moving on.

She may not like her hair quite yet, but at least she felt like she was moving forward and finally beginning to feel like a changed woman.

Kylie stepped out of the elevator and made her way to her office, hearing her phone beep. She pulled out her phone, looking at the text from Lestrade.

_Landing in an hour. See you soon._

_-Greg_

"Whoa!" a male voice said as he blocked her tracks.

Kylie looked up to see Charlie staring at her, with a slightly slacked mouth.

She shifted uncomfortably as she pushed her way past him into her office.

"What?" she asked as she set down her bag.

"Your…hair," Charlie stated as he followed her into her office.

"Yeah, I cut it," Kylie said indifferently.

"It looks… sexy as hell," Charlie grinned as he looked her up and down.

Kylie sighed and looked up at him frowning in confusion.

"What…?"

"Your hair, it's a change, but I like it. Looks good on you."

Kylie looked at him taken aback by the actually kind comment that came from her partner's mouth.

"…it makes you look like a dirty secretary. Makes me imagine you bent over a desk…"

"I thought that was a sincere compliment and then you do that…" Kylie sighed as she pulled out her wallet and sun glasses before walking out again.

Charlie just smiled at her as he kept following her.

"It's the truth Kylie!"

"I don't need insights to your dirty perverted mind. You'd probably get a lot farther in life if you left out those dirty side comments."

"But then I'd be trying to hide my true self."

"Good, do that," Kylie said in annoyance.

"You get it done this morning?" Charlie asked as they walked towards the elevator.

"No, last night."

"Really? You were late this morning."

"Toby wanted to run longer."

"You were late for work because your running partner wanted to run longer."

"I cant say no to him, Charlie. He's the only guy I cant say no to."

"…So many comments I could say to that."

"Shut up. You are just jealous because Toby can keep up with me and you cant."

"Toby has had a lot more practice and its easier when you can lounge around the house all day."

Kylie looked at him and frowned, "Are you seriously hating on my dog because he's a DOG and doesn't have a job?"

"What can I say, he's a handsome SOB who gets to keep at then end of your bed. Why cant I be jealous?"

Kylie smiled. She loved that dog. Toby was a retired police dog she had acquired and adopted upon her move to San Diego. He had been shot in action but had recently healed, but due to the severity of his injuries, he could not return to duty. Kylie had been offered and immediately took the adorable German Shepard without second thought as a faithful pet.

She loved him to pieces and if she were to be honest with herself, that dog was the only reason she was still standing after her move to the states. The dog was cuddly, fiercely protective as well as brilliant. He knew immediately when she was sad and would do silly things or quite literally fetch a box of tissues when she needed it. He constantly amazed her.

"Where are we going?" Charlie asked as they stepped out into the garage.

"Lestrade texted me, we are going to go pick him up at the airport."

Charlie frowned, "Did you bring your keys?"

"Nope, that's why you are driving," Kylie grinned at him as she put on her sunglasses and walked towards Charlie's standard issue SUV, "And we are stopping for coffee."

"I didn't bring my keys!"

"Yes you did!" Kylie exclaimed, "You always bring them and I know that bulge in your pocket isn't you, its too big."

Charlie glared at her, as she laughed, "IT WAS COLD!" he argued.

"It was 90% and apparently hazmat guys rubbing you down do it for you," Kylie laughed.

"You swore you would never speak of this!"

"Eh," Kylie stated as she shrugged, waiting for Charlie to unlock the car, "I had my fingers crossed and I have to say its great blackmail material."

Kylie gave him one last grin and opened the door, getting into the car, leaving a despondent Charlie outside.

He sighed and looked up to the sky, knowing this was the only woman who could and would frequently yank him around like this.

***#() *#) ()(#**

"Kylie, you seriously run like fifteen times a day, its not healthy," Charlie argued as they walked into the airport an hour later with coffee in hand.

Kylie looked down at her phone, seeing Lestrade's most recent text.

_We just landed. We'll be off the plane and out in about ten. Meet you at Baggage claim._

…_.. We? Who the hell was We?_

_Oh dear God, please don't be Donovan._

"Kylie!"

"What Charlie?" she yelled at him once more, "I do not run 15 times a day! I run once in the morning and once in the evening with Toby!"

"Like this morning, running your dog can also happen in the morning. I'm positive that Toby wont mind getting up early."

"I like to run, it clears my head!"

"Yeah," Charlie scoffed, "That, and it helps you clear all the sexual tension you are holding on to."

Kylie glared at him in offense as they wove their way through people making their way toward baggage claim.

"Seriously, when is the last time you got laid?" Charlie asked her… loudly.

Kylie glared at him as she walked faster, "None of your business and I have no sexual tension to get rid of."

Charlie laughed, "Yeah, that's why you have been asked out on several dates since you have been here and you have turned down every single one."

"You know it doesn't help your case when its coming from you; the world's worst authority on dating and the king of one night stands."

"I can have a real relationship when I want one," Charlie told her in offence.

Kylie scoffed at him as she took a sip of her coffee, "You are more afraid of commitment than a cat is afraid of water."

"I am not afraid of commitment. I just am not ready to settle down."

"Bullshit," Kylie called him out, "you just like having booty calls and annoying me by sleeping with everyone that we work with and making our job ten times more difficult because I have to keep women from ripping your throat out… not that I would blame them in the slightest."

"KYLIE!"

Kylie looked up to see Detective Inspector Lestrade walking towards her, wearing a large smile.

Two people were following behind him; one a shorter blonde man and a taller, dark-haired figure.

Kylie frowned in slight surprise as she identified one as John.

_John? Why was John here? _

…_Not that she minded. _

…_.Wait…_

Her eyes traveled to the dark hair figure, seeing all too familiar dark, curly hair and piercing blue eyes.

_Sherlock._

He was stopped dead in his tracks, obviously not expecting to see her from across a crowded airport either.

Kylie was barely aware of her surroundings as she just stared at him through a crowd of people. Her heart was no longer beating, she couldn't breathe. Electricity ran rampant throughout her body.

8 months. It had been 8 months since she had laid eyes on him. It felt as if every single bit of progress she had made in trying to get over the man had fallen flat and been knocked down by the presence of the very man she had been trying to get over.

She heard Charlie introducing himself as Lestrade and John approached, but she barely noticed it. She was locked in a trance with Sherlock and she could not get out of it.

"Ky?" Charlie said nudging her, bringing her out of her trance and snapping back into reality, "Is that your ex?"

Kylie shook her head and blinked a few times, still feeling breathless as she turned to Lestrade and John, hugging them both.

"What in the hell is he doing here?" Kylie whispered to Lestrade.

Lestrade frowned and looked over at Charlie peculiarly.

"Your partner told me to bring Sherlock."

Kylie slowly turned and glared murderously at Charlie.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Charlie said recognizing the murderous look that Kylie was giving him as he stepped away fearfully, " Didn't even know that was your ex, nor did I have anything to do with any of that!"

"You RAT BASTARD!" Kylie said rounding on him furiously, "You just had to stick your nose in y business. You cant stand not knowing every single aspect of my

life!"

"That is rich coming from you!" Charlie argued back as people in the airport began stopping and staring at them.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because you are literally the most infuriating person that I know! You hate not having control! That's why you get so mad about my love life."

"Kylie…" Lestrade tried to input, but Kylie ignored him as she kept arguing with Charlie.

"The only reason why I get so upset about your 'conquests' is because they are ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WE WORK WITH!"

"KYLIE!" Lestrade yelled finally getting her attention.

"WHAT?!" she yelled back as she turned her attention to her former boss.

"Its your other partner who called me," Lestrade told her, "the bloke who called me was British, it wasn't him."

Kylie and Charlie both froze, staring at him in slight shock.

"What…?"

"Lestrade, Charlie is my only partner. I don't work with any one who is British," Kylie stated to him slowly.

"So, who called Lestrade?" John asked.

"The killer," Sherlock's deep voice said as he walked up and stood next to Kylie. She could feel the heat from his body radiating towards her, the same smell of clean soap that was so distinctly him. She shut her eyes as she felt a dizziness take her over as her heart began to race.

"Its part of his game," he continued, "He wants Kylie and myself to work the case. For both of us to play the game. That's why he killed again."

Silence fell over the group as they looked at each other.

The killer had just raised the stakes and forced them to play their hand….

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	4. Chapter 4

**A HUGE thanks to my amazing reviewers: Dinosuace4, Latinclover, shell8141, PopstarJ01, fantasyfreak133, LibbyTaylor, Guest, thelastsuperwholockian, phoenix, bored4111, and tunsari. You guys are the best ever!**

**Here's the next one! Hopefully you guys enjoy it!**

Silence.

A stressed, awkward silence filled the car as they silently rode back to the FBI building. Kylie never knew such a thing existed, but due to the stress of the unknown caller and the awkwardness between Kylie and Sherlock, the tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Kylie put her head in her hand and stared out the window, wanting out of this whole situation entirely. Sherlock had barely acknowledged her presence, nor said a word directly to her. Upon the discovery that there was a mystery caller no involved, Sherlock had glanced over at Kylie before storming away and not so subtly yelling at his friend for not letting him know she was even in San Diego, let alone involved with this case. Kylie had stood there, enduring the conversation as she pretended not to hear that Sherlock had no interest in seeing her.

He had then stormed off towards the car, which was absurd because he had no idea where it was, while John came back and tried to apologize. Kylie hadn't wanted to hear it though. She was hurt, angry, and all she wanted to do was go home, hug her dog, and pretend this day had never happened.

But now, she was stuck in the front seat of the SUV while Sherlock Holmes sat in the back, not even acknowledging her existence.

Charlie glanced over at his partner, recognizing that she was hurt and awkward by the prior actions of the man in the back seat, yet he couldn't help his curiosity. Kylie had told him bits and pieces of what had happened, and he was dying to know the full story that Kylie was withholding from him.

"…So what was it like dating Kylie?" Charlie asked, breaking the silence as he caused Kylie to look over, glaring before she punched him in the arm.

"OW!" he yelled, "I'm driving! Don't punch the driver!"

"You are not allowed to ask questions," Kylie told him furiously, through gritted teeth.

"Not allowed?" Charlie gaped, "Dear God you are controlling!"

"I am not controlling! You just don't need to stick your nose into my business where it doesn't warrant you. You don't need to push subjects Charlie."

Charlie scoffed, "Says the queen of sticking her nose into my business…"

"Only because you force me to deal with it day in and day out because you constantly sleep with people we work with!"

"GUYS!" John yelled in exasperation.

Kylie and Charlie both stopped and the car went back to the awkward silence they had been in before.

"And I thought you and Sherlock were bad…" John muttered under his breath, earning a glare from Sherlock and a roll of the eyes from Kylie.

"So you two argued a lot?" Charlie pressed again, clearly not learning his lesson, "I bet the two of you had really hot make up… OW!"

Charlie glared at her as Kylie glared furiously after punching him in the arm once more. The group remained silent for the rest of the ride. After a moment or two, Charlie looked in the rearview mirror, eyeing Sherlock in the far back seat, staring at the back of Kylie's head. Charlie smiled to himself; he didn't have to know the guy to know that he still had feelings for his partner.

_This was going to be interesting…._

The car pulled into the garage, parking in the usual space as they all got out of the car. Kylie shut her door and took a breath, trying her damnest to think of a way out of this incredibly awkward situation.

She walked around the side of the car, regretting it immediately as she came face to face with the last person she had wanted to see at that moment in time; Sherlock.

Their eyes locked and Kylie felt the air leave her lungs once more as the trance began. They hadn't said a single word out loud to each other, yet it felt as if they had had an entire conversation with their eyes. Evidence of longing, sadness, anger, hurt mixed in with a certain softness that could only come from the other. His pupils were dilated as they fixed on to her.

_Did he really miss her? Did he still have feelings?_

"You cut your hair," Sherlock told her, breaking the silence.

Kylie's eyebrow raised in shock that the man had spoken to her, yet told her something so arbitrary with all that had gone on between them.

"Uh, yeah," Kylie responded, "I uh, needed a change."

"No, you didn't," he told her before suddenly grabbing the last box and walking away towards the building elevator.

Kylie's heart stopped beating for a moment as she pondered what on earth that was supposed to mean.

"Oh yeah," Charlie told her as he showed up on the other side of the car where he had been quietly watchin, "No sexual tension whatsoever."

Kylie glared at her partner as she felt the heat rise to her face, before she quickly walked off towards the building entrance where the rest of the group was waiting.

"This is going to be fun, Ky!" Charlie yelled after her as he grabbed the last box and shut the trunk, grinning wildly as he knew he was getting under his partner's skin.

***&amp;# *(&amp;#( *#(**

"So pretty much as of right now, we have nothing else new on the body," Kylie said as she wrapped up her summary of the most recent victim, "All of the evidence hasn't came back from the lab or morgue yet, but I wouldn't hold my breath. This guy was always good."

"So… you guys had 4 bodies in a week and then this guy just fell off the face of the planet?" Charlie asked as he walked back into the conference room where they had set up, handing Kylie the cup of coffee he had gotten for her.

"Yeah this bastard is fourteen different types of crazy, but he's bound to misstep sometime," Lestrade said as he gave Kylie a curious look as she looked at her phone, getting up to take a call as she took her coffee with her.

"Let's just hope that he missteps before someone else gets killed," John said as he glanced over at the suspiciously silent Sherlock.

The man was silently eyeing Kylie as he looked through a stack of crime scene photos. John tried not to smile, as furious as his friend had been with him for lying to get him to come, he knew that Sherlock was silently happy to see Kylie once more.

Kylie walked back into the room, setting down her coffee, "Come on, some evidence just came in that we need to see."

Sherlock was the first to jump up from the table as Kylie led them towards the elevator once more. She pressed the down button as they all squeezed in. The doors shut and Kylie couldn't help but notice how close Sherlock was to her once more.

_Goddammit. _

She had just begun to feel as if she could move on, and then this happens. Her hormones were off the chars as just the smell of him made her want to shove him up against the wall and…

_GOD! Seriously Kylie? Snap out of it! It's not going to happen! You two are finished. That's why you left London to begin with!  
_

"Sexual Tension…" Charlie whispered teasingly into her ear from behind.

Knowing exactly where he was, Kylie shoved her elbow hard into his diaphragm, , effectively knocking the wind out of him and making him keel over in pain right as the elevator doors opened up.

Sherlock, John, and Lestrade all stared at Charlie as Kylie strolled out of the elevator as if nothing had happened. Sherlock smirked slightly before quickly following after Kylie, leaving John and Lestrade with an out of breath Charlie.

"Damn Woman," Charlie coughed as he stood up, trying to regain his breath.

Lestrade laughed lightly as the three of them walked down the hall, catching up to Kylie and Sherlock.

The group made their way down the hall, turning into a door labeled AUTOPSY, all of them entered except for Charlie who took one look at the door and made a strange whining noise as he took a few steps back down the hall and leaned up against the wall with his phone. Kylie realized that he wasn't behind them and popped her head back out the door.

"Charlie… what are you doing?"

"Oh, uh… I'm just going to make a phone call, you guys go ahead."

Kylie sighed, knowing when he was lying, "Did you sleep with the coroner?"

Charlie shut his eyes, as if expecting a punch from Kylie, before nodding slowly.

Kylie sighed once more, walking over to him.

"One night stand?"

"Yep."

"And you never called her again?"

Yet another nod.

Kylie sighed before grabbing Charlie by the ear and dragging him past Lestrade, Sherlock, and John and into the morgue.

"OW! Goddammit Kylie!" Charlie yelled before Kylie let him go.

Charlie cursed under his breath and shook his head before opening his eyes, freezing as he realized he was in the middle of the morgue standing across from a dead body as well as a very anger coroner.

"Hey Macie," Kylie said with a large smile, "You ready for us yet?"

"No, my report isn't ready yet," Macie said as eh looked up at them before glaring at Charlie.

Macie was the coroner that Kylie had met upon her arrival to San Diego. Kylie liked her. She was smart, sarcastic, and said what was on her mind. Charlie liked her too, but that was because she was a very pretty Asian woman with breasts.

"What about preliminary results?" Kylie pressed, "You called us about something?"

"Yes…" Macie said as she eyed the other people in the room with whom she was not familiar.

"Great!" Kylie said as she remembered she hadn't yet introduced everyone, "Macie, this is Detective Inspector Lestrade, Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. John Watson. They are with Scotland Yard and helping us with this case."

Macie eyed the men before she crossed her arms, "This was originally a serial killing in London, correct?"

"Yes, Jack the Ripper originally killed in London. Anyone with internet access should know that, let alone a forensic medical degree," Sherlock snapped, eager to get to the body, "The body? That is why we are here?"

Macie turned and glared daggers at him, "Excuse me?"

Sherlock opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Kylie stomped on his foot in attempt to get him to shut up.

"So Macie," Kylie interjected quickly in order to distract her from Sherlock's comments and refuse to give them access to the body, "If you were to hypothetically kill Charlie…"

Charlie sighed in exasperation as Macie perked right up, enjoying the thought of it.

"WOW!"

"I know," Kylie grinned, "How would you do it?"

"Oh, come on…" Charlie tried to defend himself, but before he could, Kylie interjected once more.

"You see, I don't know about you, but I've been thinking about this a long LONG time. And the conclusion that I have come to, is I think I would strangle him. It would be extremely satisfying and there would be no trace because I would make it look like a hanging."

"There is always evidence, Kyleigha," Sherlock said as he approached the body and began looking with his magnifying glass, "there is always evidence, like the body in _front of us._"

"He's unfortunately right," Macie said glaring at Sherlock as he crossed even more boundaries in the lab, shoving himself right into the evidence, "Your best bet would be poisoning; insulin or potassium chloride. Virtually undetectable," she told Kylie with a smile.

"Ha ha," Charlie laughed uncomfortably as he scratched his neck, "okay, guys, real funny. Can we move on now?"

"I mean the safest thing would be to leave no body behind," Macie continued, ignoring Charlie.

"Yeah, you are right," Kylie said slowly as she thought for a moment, "No body, no crime. But would I have to chop his body into little pieces or could I just stick his entire body in a vat of acid and watch him rot away?"

"Why are you asking?" Sherlock announced, fully annoyed by the delay in gathering evidence, "you know the answer perfectly well. You have a doctorate in the subject as you so kindly remind me on a constant basis."

"I would chop him into little tiny pieces," Macie continued, ignoring Sherlock's protests once more, "I mean it would be satisfying. I think I would start with his di…"

"YEAH YEAH OKAY! Alright!" Charlie said as he threw his hands up, "Macie, I am sorry. You are right I should have called and I am a complete jerk. I am sorry."

Kylie and Macie both turned to look at him in shock.

"Did he just apologize?" Macie asked Kylie, not knowing if she had heard him correctly.

"Holy Mary, its Jesus's 38th miracle," Kylie muttered.

"Hmm," Macie said as she took off her gloves and grabbed her clipboard from behind her.

"The victim sustained multiple stab wounds to the abdomen before he ripped her open from pubic bone to sternum. No signs of rape, though I found lubricant and spermicide in her vaginal cavity."

"So, she had consensual sex right before she died?" Kylie clarified.

Macie nodded, "Her throat was slit last. Even these engravings were made when she was still alive. This poor woman went through a lot."

"Then why did no one hear her?" Charlie wondered out loud, "She was in the restroom at a crowded beach and going through torturous amounts of pain. She would have screamed."

"He drugged her," Sherlock said quietly as he pointed to a corner of the victim's neck… a very familiar place. It was the same exact place where Irene had dosed Sherlock all those months ago.

"It was rumored that for a little while, the Ripper dosed his victims into compliancy," he added.

"Is that?" Kylie asked breathlessly, recognizing the placement, as she looked up at Sherlock in blatant shock.

"Coincidence, I am sure," Sherlock responded to her.

Kylie nodded and went quiet. Irene wouldn't be a part of this, no matter how much of a scum that woman was. Kylie knew she wouldn't help to murder women. Irene was out for herself, but that woman wasn't a killer.

"Well her being drugged would explain why no one heard anything," Charlie said, putting the conversation back on track.

"He's right," Macie informed them, "the tox report came back with high levels of ketamine in her system."

"Special K?" Lestrade asked, "It's a street drug."

"Its also commonly used in hospitals," John interjected, turning to Macie, "Were you able to determine the grade?"

"Yep, hospital grade stuff."

"So we are looking for a doctor…" Kylie began before Sherlock stood up straight, ripped off his gloves, grabbed Kylie by the arm and yanked her out of the room.

"What? Sherlock!"

He pulled her down the corridor and down to the elevator, pulling her in by the hand.

"Sherlock, what is going on?" Kylie asked as neither of them noticed their hands were intertwined.

"The Ketamine, it's a lead."

"To what? I mean it is something new."

"Think Kylie," Sherlock said as he faced her, "These women are all prostitutes. They had health check ups every month for disease…"

"If we check the clinics that they went to, we may find our killer," Kylie finished, "That may be his selection pool if he was one of the clinicians who treated them."

"Exactly," Sherlock said breathlessly as his eyes sparkled with intrigue.

Kylie felt her heart flutter as months of pent up anger and hurt vanished instantly as everything went back to normal for a brief second between them.

She felt her eyes wander down his neck, not able to help reaching out and caressing the small patch of skin where the victim had had a puncture mark, the same spot that had been covered with a hickie all those months ago.

Sherlock stiffened under her touch, trying not to feel the fluttering of his own heart and warmth dispersing from her touch.

"What did Irene drug you with?" Kylie asked softly.

_God, she had missed the feel of his skin…_

"Kylie, we both know it wasn't her," he replied breathlessly as he tried to remain in control.

"I know, but it all fits so perfectly," she stated as she took a step closer to him.

They just stared at each other in silence.

"I am so unbelievably sorry for what I did to you," Kylie whispered to him, her eyes searching his.

She could have sworn that Sherlock had begun inching his lips towards hers where the elevator door beeped and then opened, snapping them out of their trance.

Kylie and Sherlock leapt apart only to see none other than Director Todd Hastings in front of them.

"Gibbs," Hastings said as he crossed his arms and stared pointedly at their still intertwined hands.

Kylie looked down and dropped Sherlock's hand as quickly as she could.

"Uh… sir… this is…" Kylie began stuttering nervously, before Sherlock put a smile on his face and presented his hand.

"Sherlock Holmes with Scotland Yard."

Hastings just looked at the hand before looking back up at his employee.

"Gibbs, my office, NOW!" he said as he stormed into his office, expecting Kylie to follow.

Kylie shut her eyes and dropped her head.

_Short of her father showing up, this is the last thing she needed right now._

"Bring everyone else up to speed and find the connection," Kylie told him quietly as they stepped off the elevator, "I'll be in once I have my head ripped off."

**Review?**


	5. Chapter 5

_**You guys are simply amazing! A HUGE thanks to all of you who are following my story and an even bigger hug to all of you who have given me feedback! A huge thanks to Newtofanfic, ShikaKibaSinoGal, CaaRehme (thanks so much my dear, didn't know it was that obvious **____**) SandraSmit19, phoenixJ, Eirithdiel, LatinClover, fantastyfreak133, shurfine, shell8141, PopStarJ, dinosauce4, bored411, and LibbyTaylor for their reviews and feedback! I want to hug you all!  
**_

_**I apologize for any strange grammar and/or mistakes in this chapter… a bottle of wine was my assistant writing this … so apologies. Drunk writing is fun writing hahaha. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

Kylie walked into Hastings office nervously as her heart raced in her chest. She was expecting the worst; Hastings had a reputation for putting the fear of God into his agents, and after what he just stumbled upon with her and Sherlock… or whatever he had just stumbled upon with her and Sherlock, she didn't quite know what to expect. It just most likely wasn't a congratulations or a pat on the back…

"Close the door," Hastings said in his typical gruff growl.

_Shit… _

It was well known that Hastings door always remained opened. He was consistently less than private about his ass-chewings and enjoyed having them be on a public stage. When the door was closed it meant one of four things: A) that person was going to be fired B) said person was about to have their head torn off an eaten like a praying mantis because the point of ass-chewing had been passed C) both A and B or D) receive some information that is top secret or need to know basis.

She was going to go with option C as the reason she was currently shutting the door at this moment.

Kylie turned to see Hastings staring at her.

"Sit Gibbs," he ordered.

Kylie obeyed as she awaited the worst to begin.

"What in the HELL are you doing screwing Scotland Yard members in the middle of my elevator?!"

"Sir it was not as it looked…"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT GIBBS!"

Kylie shut her mouth immediately.

"When I see one of my agents about to jump an officer from another country, it begins to worry me."

_Uh, he's not an officer…_

"Sir, you cannot possibly think…"

"YOU ARE DISTRACTED!" Hastings yelled at her, the vein popping out on his forehead as his blood raged, "WE HAVE A SERIAL KILLER ON THE LOOSE AND YOU ARE TOO BUSY PLAYING GRAB ASS WITH A BRITISH SPY!"

"Sir, he is not…" 

"SHUT IT!" Hastings screamed at her, banging his fist on the desk and making her jump.

The room fell into a tense silence as Hastings breathed heavily in pure rage.

"If you weren't such a damn good agent and come with the recommendations that you did, I would fire your ass right now. Lucky for you, you are in a rare field with a rare expertise so firing you would make me look bad."

Kylie remained silent as Hastings sat in his chair, taking a few breaths.

"I know why you transferred here, Gibbs. I read the file."

Kylie looked up at him in shock. She had never shared that with anyone except Tobias and Charlie.

_Damn… that was in her file?_

"I know you left because of a relationship. Is this the same man?"

Kylie stared at the floor, not knowing how he would react to a truthful answer.

"Yes sir."

"You have a killer to catch. You cannot let the past effect your vigilance in the field," Hastings commanded her, "I do not want to see you fraternizing again or else I will fire you for incompetence quicker than you can spell it. Am I clear?"

Kylie remained silent as she stared at him in sight shock.

"AM I CLEAR?"

"Yes, yes sir."

"Good," Hastings said as he sat back down in his seat, "Now get out of my sight before I change my mind."

Kylie stood up quickly and walked out of the office in time to see everyone on the floor staring at her in silence. She stopped in her tracks, clearing her throat uncomfortably as she tucked her hair behind her ear and kept walking towards the conference room.

She took a deep breath and walked in, trying to force herself to clear her mind and go back to business.

That wouldn't be so easy however as John, Lestrade, Sherlock, and Charlie all stared at her with pity, confusion and awkwardness in their eyes.

"You okay?" Charlie asked her.

Kylie ran a hand through her hair as she blushed awkwardly, "You guys heard that?"

"People in China definitely heard it," Charlie told her with a knowing grin on his face.

Kylie gave him a look and he opened his mouth to say another remark with an even bigger smile on his face, but before he could respond, Kylie cut him off.

"Say what you are going to say and I swear to God I will take Macie up n her advice."

Charlie smiled even wider, knowing he had effectively gotten under her skin as he shut his mouth and remained quiet.

Kylie sighed and shut her eyes as she toyed with the ends of her short hair, completely uncomfortable at the moment before she turned and looked at Sherlock.

She paused for a moment as she saw his eyes soften towards her.

_Was he…? _

…_No Kylie. No. _

"What did you find?" she asked him as she shoved the thoughts out of her mind.

"There is a group of clinic doctors who travel to cities, staying for six months at a time before moving to the next. They specialize in dealing with sexually transmitted diseases and AIDs," Sherlock rambled off quickly as he turned the laptop to show her.

Kylie bent down to read the screen.

"Doctors within city-limits," Kylie said reading the name of the group.

"It's a sort of doctors without borders thing," John added, "a volunteer program in which doctors move and serve before they settle down in their own practice. A group was just in London during the time the Ripper was killing and a group just was announced in San Diego."

"John, even they aren't that idiotic. They understand the connection. So, please do shut up, your babble is starting to get annoying," Sherlock snapped as he turned back to the computer.

Charlie looked at Sherlock as if he grew another head, completely taken aback by his behavior. Lestrade laughed slightly at his reaction, completely forgetting that Charlie had not seen Sherlock in his true form quite yet.

"Hey," Kylie said as she hit the back of Sherlock's head lightly smiling, "Play nice with others."

She smiled as he looked at her with slight confusion and betrayal before she grabbed the file next to him, flipping through it briefly.

"Do we have a list of employees?" Kylie asked looking up from the file.

"Yes," Charlie said as he handed her a print out, "They just picked up three new doctors and seven of them were in London as well. They have a clinic on Espinado Dr."

"What are we waiting for then?" Kylie asked as she grabbed her fire arm and badge out of her bag and made to leave before Sherlock stood up and blocked her path.

Kylie looked at him strangely before she made to pass him.

He stepped in her path, gently grabbing her arms as he looked at her.

"No."

Kylie raised an eyebrow in confusion as his hands naturally slid down her arms until his hands were in hers, neither of them thinking anything of it at all.

"What are you talking about?"

Charlie raised his eyebrow at the actions and pulled John and Lestrade coyly to the left to stand directly next to him, blocking the view into the conference room from Hastings office.

Lestrade smiled to himself at the pair, and at Charlie's reaction.

_Kylie had gotten herself a damn good partner._

"All of the victims were dressed or changed to look like you. I'm not letting you walk in there. We'll either lose him, or you will be his next target and I am not willing to take either of those risks," Sherlock told her quietly before he blushed and noticed the other people in the room, "None of us are, I mean."

"It's a game, Sherlock," Kylie told him, "He's been stalking us all for a while and if he had wanted to kill me, he would have made me a victim by now."

"Exactly, Kylie! It's a game. A game he has forced us all to play. He knows is, he knows the hand we have to play. This isn't a game. It's a trap disguised as a game. He wants you to come to him; he wants to kill you."

"Sherlock, you are overreacting. This is Thomas's deal for helping him. He dresses the victims up as me. That's all there is to it. The guy has nothing against me. He only has a thing against prostitutes."

"And Models," Charlie added.

Kylie and Sherlock both turned to glare at him.

"What?" he asked, shrugging, "The last victim was a model."

Sherlock dropped Kylie's hand and whirled around, grabbing his coat, "That changes everything."

Kylie raised an eyebrow towards him before making to follow him out of the room.

Before she could though, Sherlock walked back in, looking her dead in the eye with a look that stopped her in her tracks.

_He doesn't Kylie… stop thinking it's a possibility._

"Stay here," he told her as he was dangerously close to her.

She could feel his heart beat rapidly in his chest as he stared at her. She wasn't breathing. She wasn't thinking. Her heart was beating out of her chest as her only instinct was to jump this man in front of her.

_No… you cant._

Before she knew it though, he had stiffened and turned away, walking back out the door, leaving her dumbstruck once more.

John and Lestrade brushed past her as they made to follow. John however, stopped in his tracks and turned back towards her.

"He's right you know. He's just trying to protect you."

Kylie blinked a few times, coming back down to reality as she shook her head, "I don't need protection, John. I need to come with you."

"No you don't," Charlie said quickly as he grabbed his coat and pushed past her, "Hey Hastings!" he yelled once he was out into the bullpen, "Kylie just volunteered to reorganize the files on the Ripper and enter them all into the database to let you know how truly sorry she is for her behavior!"

Kylie gaped in betrayal at her partner as Hastings made his way out of his office.

_That would take ages!_

"Good. Get going Gibbs. And do the Hansen case while you are at it," Hastings told her with a nod before reentering his office.

Kylie stared in fury at where her boss had been standing just a few moments prior.

"Have fun, Ky!" Charlie said cheekily with a wave before they all set off to go find the newest suspect.

Kylie shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before walking into her office where they had stored all the files. There was at least 10 boxes of files and evidence that she had to sort through from Scotland Yard, plus the evidence from the newest case, plus another fifteen from the Hansen case they had worked earlier in the week.

She plopped down in her chair and sighed loudly as she looked helplessly at the work in front of her.

_She was going to be here all night…_

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	6. Chapter 6

_**I seriously adore you guys! Thanks so much to all of my amazing reviewers!**_

_**Guest, Shell8141, Newtofanfic, Eirthdiel, fantasyfreak133, guest, shurfine, popstarJ01, Libbytaylor, and bored411Thank you for your guys amazing reviews! **_

_**Short one! Sorry!**_

Kylie sighed heavily as she rolled her neck, groaning as she attempted to unkink the large knots in her neck. She glanced at the clock. It was nearing midnight and she had barley made a dent in the paperwork she was trying not to drown in.

The office was nearly empty at this point in the night; even the workaholics and last minute dead lines had been gone for over a few hours now. It was just her and the creepy night janitor who happened to like to wear his pants backwards.

She had gotten a text from Charlie a few hours ago telling her that they hadn't found anything and that he was going to drop Lestrade, John, and Sherlock off at their hotel.

…_So it was just her and the paperwork for the next… 36 hours…_

There was no way she was getting home tonight. She needed to make a note to murder Charlie in the morning.

"Well this looks tedious," a male voice said from the doorway.

Kylie looked up in shock to see Sherlock standing there with a cup of coffee in hand. She felt a smile cross her face as she rolled her eyes slightly at him.

"Well, yeah. You'd be right about that," Kylie said as she smiled at him. She watched him approach the desk and look around, taking in her office. She raised an eyebrow at him. Her mind raced as she watched his eyes flit around her office taking in the changes.

Her office in San Diego was much different than the one she had had in London. She had no pictures. She just had a skull on a shelf and binders full of research. Her office had next to none decorations and personal touches as it had had in London. It was pretty much bare.

She could see him debating the differences in his mind before his eyes flitted back up to her.

He looked down and cleared his throat before he held out the cup of coffee awkwardly.

"Here," he said as he held it towards her, intending her to take it.

Kylie raised her eyebrow at him and smiled slightly.

_Even him being awkward was adorable. _

…_Goddammit Kylie. _

_The man who was always so confident with everything that he did was so incredibly awkward with her? The man couldn't even look her in the eye. _

"Thanks," Kylie said accepting the caffeine gratefully. She took a sip as she looked at him, awkwardly standing in front of her.

"I thought that Charlie drove you to the hotel?" she asked him.

"He did." Sherlock nodded as he took the chair across from her.

Kylie looked at him skeptically as she leaned back in her chair.

"So you just decided to take a ten mile stroll from your hotel to track down a coffee shop in the middle of the night and make your way here?"

Sherlock looked at her blankly.

"That's why there are cabs," Sherlock told her.

Kylie smiled and laughed lightly as Sherlock chuckled with her.

She looked at him as she toyed with the paper rim of the coffee cup.

"You should get some rest though," she told him quietly as she looked up at him through her lashes.

"I'm fine," Sherlock replied to her as he refused to break eye contact with her.

"You always say you are fine."

"Because I am," Sherlock stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Mmm, you aren't always though."

Sherlock just looked at her.

Kylie smiled at him softly as they were locked in a gaze once more. Both refused to break eye contact. They just stared; blue locked onto blue.

"Your hair…" Sherlock said as he stared at her, "It uh… suits you."

Kylie ran her fingers through her hair nervously as she blushed.

"Uh, thanks, I think…"

"It was a compliment."

"Was it?"

Sherlock looked at her perplexed, causing Kylie to smile and laugh lightly at him.

She looked back up and got caught in his stare once more.

BANG!

They both jumped as the janitor dropped a trashcan and swore loudly, bringing them out of their gaze.

Kylie looked away and pulled some hair behind her ear as she cleared her throat and busied herself with a file.

"So what'd you guys find at the clinic?"

Sherlock cleared his throat as well, "Seven doctors; four male, three female…"

"Since we know that the killer is male, that takes our suspect pool down to four," Kylie added as she caught on.

Sherlock nodded, "Yes. First is about fifty, from Ireland. Definitely not the killer."

Kylie raised her eyebrows in surprised, "You dismissed him that quickly?" Kylie asked twisting in her chair slightly.

"Of course," Sherlock said quickly, "He had clubbing."

Kylie looked down and smiled, understanding. "High risk for heart disease. He wouldn't have had the strength to kill those women. Plus that rush of adrenaline would have caused a heart attack."

"Precisely," Sherlock said as he nodded at her, "And the second is German."

"Easy, not our guy. Lestrade said he was British."

"Leaving us with two suspects," Kylie said as she pulled her laptop towards her and pulled up some records.

Sherlock got up, walking around the desk to peer over her shoulder, putting one hand down by her mouse as his other hand went to the back of the chair.

"Dr. Karl Foreman, and Dr. Traven Hillsdale," Kylie said as she typed their name into the computer.

"Wouldn't it be easier if one of them was named Jack? Or Rack the Jipper?" Kylie chided as she skimmed the two doctor's history.

"Yes, because that is the way the world works," Sherlock stated sarcastically.

"I wish it was," Kylie stated, "I mean if everything were black and white things would be easy, you wouldn't have to try to find killers, or try to deduce what men…"

Kylie trailed off as she stopped her sentence awkwardly, not realizing that she was referring to the other person in the room.

Sherlock looked at her, causing her to look back up at him.

_God he was handsome…_

"Rack the Jipper?"

Kylie snorted with laughter as his face contorted into confusion.

"Is that some new 'street' saying?" Sherlock asked, causing Kylie to laugh even more.

"Who are you? John?"

Sherlock gave her an even more perplexed look.

"Aka grandpa?" Kylie said with a smirk.

Sherlock laughed briefly.

"At least you didn't say Jack Harkness."

Kylie turned and gaped at him.

"What? Did you just make a pop culture reference?"

"You and John watched that series for a week straight!"

"We both had the flu and it was hilarious!" Kylie argued.

"It was annoying! And impossible not to listen to!"

"It was one of the most popular shows in Britain!" Kylie argued as she laughed at him.

"The episode the two of you watched all day one day was about a woman killing men with an orgasm!" Sherlock argued, "its not like that could logically ever happen in real life! Killing people with a hormone and nerve impulse to the pleasure center of the brain!"

Kylie chuckled and looked at him with a smirk, "You obviously have never slept with me then."

Sherlock looked at her in slight puzzlement before the computer beeped, snapping them out of their gaze once more.

NO RESULTS flashed on the screen.

They both stared at the screen at a loss.

"That's impossible!" Kylie said as she began typing once more, only to have the words NO RESULTS show up on the screen once more.

"How do neither of them exist?" Kylie gaped in complete shock, "There are no records of them anywhere? Not in Interpol, DMV, the medical license board, nothing!"

Sherlock looked at it a smile growing over his face as intrigue sparkled in his eyes.

"Interesting…"

"Who the hell are these guys?" Kylie asked in disbelief, "How the hell are we going to trace them back to these crimes if they don't exist?"

"No idea," Sherlock said softly as a grin spread over his face, "but this case just became more and more interesting," Sherlock said before he kissed her temple, standing up and walking out, leaving Kylie alone once more.

Shock ran through Kylie's body as she sat there, completely frozen in shock.

_Did Sherlock just… kiss her?_

Granted, it was the temple, but a few months ago, he wouldn't touch her, let alone kiss her.

… What in the hell was going on? 

**&amp;*( #( *# **

Sherlock waltzed down the hall of the empty FBI building, a jump in his step as he had a promising case in front of him. This case was wonderful! With each and every turn the case just kept getting better and better. .

He was happy. He was excited. He felt adrenaline pumping through his veins. His stomach was fluttering, it had since he…

Sherlock froze, stopping in his tracks.

_Had he….? Kissed Kylie's temple?_

His stomach flipped as he replayed the moment in mind. It had been so natural… habitual even.

His stomach flipped as he saw her face pop up in his mind.

The tingling warmth returned.

_Crap… all of these feelings were back._

**Review? Please?**


	7. Chapter 7

**I have the best readers! Thank you so much to you all for reading and an even bigger thank you to my reviewers: Kira, PopStarJ01, Newtofanfic (Ugh! I hate when I do that! I go too fast and forget to go back and reread sections. Dammit. Thanks as always love!), romance Junkie (Thanks sweetheart!), dinosauce4 (Do we know that will happen?), Eirithdiel, Guest, LatinClover, LibbyTaylor, Bored411, shurfine, thelastsuperwholockian, and Thatcrazyginger for their amazing reviews!**

**Okay, so super short, slightly pointless chapter, but it's a set up for what is to come and I couldn't lengthen it because of what needs to happen next chapter.. so apologies. Hope you guys enjoy it anyway!**

"Gooood Morning Sunshine!" Charlie said as he strolled happily into Kylie's office the next morning carrying two cups of coffee. He stopped in his tracks as he found Kylie asleep on her desk, using a stack of files as a pillow.

Charlie smiled to himself. She really was beautiful… not that he ever really thought of her in that way… Yeah, okay maybe he did. But if she knew, she would castrate him on the spot.

She was his partner, his sister… his really hot sister…

"Hey! Ky!" Charlie said as he walked over and shook her gently to wake her.

Kylie stirred and groaned a little as she sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Well, good morning sunshine," Charlie told her giving her a charming smile and handing her a coffee.

"Thank you," she said gratefully as she accepted the coffee, taking a sip as she rubbed her face with exhaustion, "I should kill you on the spot."

"Why?" Charlie asked with a smile, "Because I save you?"

"The opposite," Kylie told him pointedly, "I have been up night doing this shit, Charlie!"

"Looks like you had time to get a cup of coffee at least?" Charlie said as he stared pointedly at her empty coffee cup.

"Oh, that," Kylie said as she glanced over at it. "No, Sherlock stopped by…"

"OH! Sherlock stopped by?"

Kylie looked up and glared at him.

"Stop."

"What? I'm just making a remark about how he decided to stop by, in an empty office, in the middle of the night…"

"Nothing happened Charlie," she told him as she rolled her eyes, "He stopped by to bring me coffee and update me on the case."

"Uh-huh," Charlie said as he raised an eyebrow and smirked at her.

Kylie rolled her eyes and sighed loudly.

"I'm still pissed at you," she said as she turned back and began to put the files away.

"Sorry for caring," Charlie said as he sat on her desk smiling at her, "We all just don't want to see you get hurt… especially Mr. tall, dark, and handsome."

Kylie looked up at him, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "Aw, Charlie! You think he's handsome too? I mean, I'll always love you like a brother, but I didn't realized you swung that way."

Charlie froze, the smile fading off his face as he looked at her in slight confusion.

"I don't, you know what I meant."

"Hey, I don't have anything against it. I'm just surprised that's all," Kylie said smiling,

Charlie gave her a look and rolled his eyes at her.

"You really are never going to let this go, are you?"

"No," Kylie said as she took another long sip of her coffee, "Not after I had to pull an all-nighter because of you."

Charlie sighed and shrugged, "Fair enough."

Charlie stared at his partner. Despite the fact she looked exhausted, he never thought she had looked more beautiful. She had this glow about her that he had never seen before; not with Thomas, not with anyone. Only once Sherlock Holmes had walked back into her life and was bringing her coffee in the middle of the night.

"He cares about you, you know," Charlie told her with a smile as he casually took another pull from his coffee.

Kylie's eyes snapped towards him in slight confusion.

"Sherlock," he clarified, "I don't even know the guy and I can tell."

Kylie rolled her eyes and sighed.

"The only reason he didn't want you to go to the clinic was because he thought it would put you in danger. He is trying to protect you."

"I don't need protection, Charlie! I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, you do Kylie. You can take care of yourself, but you still need someone to look out for you. You are as stubborn as a mule, and one day that stubbornness is going to bite you on a case. You need that person in your life that keeps you from doing that and that cares enough to endure your wrath in order to keep you safe. Everyone needs that person. You, are damn lucky to have someone like that in your life. That's all I am saying."

Kylie looked at him for a moment, choosing her words wisely.

"Charlie," she said slowly, in shock that these words were actually coming out of her mouth, "I think that that may be literally the deepest thing you have ever said."

Charlie shrugged and gave her a cocky, confident smile, "I'm constantly a surprise Ky."

Kylie laughed as she leaned up and hugged her friend tightly.

"…Are we interrupting something?"

Kylie looked up to see Lestrade, John and Sherlock standing in the doorway; Lestrade smirking, John looking perplexed, and Sherlock looking slightly angry as they eyed the hugging pair.

"Ha ha no," Kylie said as she held her hands up and shook her head as she sat back down, rolling away from Charlie, laughing at the absurdity of the implication, "No, no, no, no, no-no. Nooo. No-no-no. No, no, no, no, no, no. No-no-no. NO. NO. No, no, no, no, no no-no-no-no. No…..no….no.

Charlie gaped at her in slight offense, "Really? 34 no's? Really?"

Lestrade and John began to chuckle lightly as a small smile began to play on Sherlock's face.

"Uh… yeah," Kylie said as she got up and stretched, "34 was not NEARLY enough to make my point."

She groaned lightly as she stretched, trying to unkink her now tight muscles.

"I have to run home really quick to shower and feed Toby. Can you tell Hastings I'll be back in about an hour?" Kylie asked Charlie as she grabbed her coat and her bag.

"Yeah, I'll cover you. Go," Charlie told her as he nodded.

Kylie grabbed her coffee, "Great, thanks Charlie."

Kylie was nearly out the door before Sherlock spoke up.

"You shouldn't go alone."

Everyone in the room went silent as they all turned to stare in shock at Sherlock.

He shifted uncomfortably under everyone's stare, "There is a serial killer after you and all. You shouldn't go alone," he said simply.

John, Lestrade, and Charlie's looks quickly became suppressed smiles as they watched Kylie's confusion grow along with the blush that was creeping up Sherlock's neck.

"Well, why don't you go with her, Sherlock?" Lestrade suggested, failing terribly at hiding the grin on his face.

"Yeah, I mean we totally have it covered here," Charlie added on, "You go with her and we'll start…."

"Catching up on what you already figured out," John finished, giving Charlie an out as he had been struggling to find an excuse.

"Precisely," Charlie nodded in agreement.

Kylie and Sherlock both stared at the three of them, neither of them having any idea what was going on with their friends.

"I'm way too tired to figure out what the hell is going on right now," Kylie said as she fished out her keys, "But I'm going to go home… like I told you. So whoever wants to come, can I guess, but I'm leaving. Now."

Kylie walked out of the room, slowly making her way to the elevators, as she left the four men behind.

Sherlock just watched her walk out before turning back to the others.

"What are you waiting for?" Charlie grinned at him, "Go after her Romeo."

Sherlock looked at him as if he had suddenly sprouted a second, and then a third head before he slowly turned and made his way out of the room, extremely perplexed by everyone's behavior as he followed after Kylie.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at Sherlock's retreating form before turning back to John and Lestrade and letting out a whistle.

"Wow, he really doesn't get it, does he?"

Lestrade laughed and shook his head as John sighed.

"You should have seen them before they dated. That was smooth for Sherlock."

**Like I said, short and pointless. But hopefully you guys enjoyed it!**

**Review? Make my day?**


	8. Chapter 8

**I am SO Sorry it took me so long to get this out you guys! I wasn't expecting to have an insane week last week and I have been swamped with stuff ever since! So my deepest apologies to keep you guys waiting! And because someone asked me, yes, I do rewrite this story! A lot of the reason why it takes me so long is that I a) retype it all to ensure that I clean up somethings I want and to make sure it flows b) allows me to add or take out sections and C) allows me to completely rewrite chapters. This chapter took me 3-4 writes and I'm not completely happy with it but I gotta move on somehow :D. Anyhow, so that is why it does take me so long to update. The writing takes the same amount of time, its just planned out to where it is going. **

**A HUGE thanks to all of my amazing readers and an even bigger hug to my reviewers! You guys are all the greatest ever!**

**Anyhow, heres the next chapter!**

Kylie shifted awkwardly in her car seat as she drove down the street away from the FBI Building.

She still wasn't sure why Sherlock had actually followed her. She had thought that if she acted indifferently, he would have let her go by herself. Obviously, that wasn't the case.

She glanced over at him, sighing loudly as she debated why he was actually here.

All of those months in London, he had loathed her. He had barely spoken to her and avoided her. Eight months she had been in the states. 8 months she had been working here and not once had he reached out or apologized. Hell, she had even tried to avoid him by telling Lestrade not to bring him. But the moment that she had laid eyes on him across the airport, everything had changed.

Sure, it had been awkward, but all parts of her that had wanted to shove him away as quickly as she could had slowly faded, disappearing completely after their talk in the elevator.

Then there was that talk in her office….

_Dear God…_

She hadn't ever believed that things could have ever gone back to normal between them… but with this case… it nearly had. The conversation had made her feel as if they had never broken up.

And then there was the sexual tension…

_Far too much of it. _

_DAMMIT KYLIE!_

Kylie quickly hit the radio, turning on some music.

Kylie sighed in relief as the music provided a distraction.

Sherlock turned and looked at her at the sudden disruption in his silence. He turned back and stared out the window. He felt Kylie keep glancing over at him as she drove.

"Anything you want to say?" Sherlock asked, slightly annoyed as he turned and looked at her.

Kylie blushed and opened and closed her mouth before quickly turning back towards the road.

"Uh, no. Nothing."

Sherlock kept looking at her, slightly puzzled.

Kylie turned up the music, trying to play off her discomfort as much as she could as a new song began to play over the radio.

_Tried to break love to a science__  
__In an act of pure defiance__  
__I broke her heart.__  
__As i pulled apart her theories__  
__As i watched her growing weary__  
__I pulled her apart_

Sherlock paused and slowly looked at the radio, eyeing it suspiciously as he listened to the lyrics.

___Having heavy conversations__  
__About the furthest constellations of our souls. oh__  
__We're just trying to find some meaning__  
__In the things that we believe in__  
__But we got some ways to go.__  
__Of all of the things that she's ever said__  
__She goes and says something that just knocks me dead._

He froze as the words of the song hit him. Lyrics typically didn't make sense or apply to his life, but why was this song making him feel as if a hole was developing in his heart.

___You won't find faith or hope down a telescope__  
__You won't find heart and soul in the stars__  
__You can break everything down to chemicals__  
__But you can't explain a love like ours._

Love… this wasn't love. He didn't do love. He had been mistaken.

…_Hadnt he?__  
_

___Ooohhhh__  
__It's the way we feel, yeah this is real__  
__Ooohhhh__  
__It's the way we feel, yeah this is real___

_I tried pushing evolution__  
__As the obvious conclusion of the start.__  
__But it was for my own amusement__  
__Saying love was an illusion of a hopeless heart.__  
__Of all of the things that she's ever said__  
__She goes and says something that knocks me dead._

Sherlock reached over and quickly shut off the radio, hitting the power button a little too hard, making Kylie jump as she looked at him in slight surprise.

"You can change the station, you know? Or told me you didn't like the song."

Sherlock didn't respond, he just kept staring out the window, refusing to look at her.

"Okay…" Kylie trailed off as she turned back to driving in silence.

They kept driving in silence for a few moments, neither of them looking at each other or making even the slightest of noises. The only sound was the passing traffic around them.

"Why did you come with me Sherlock?" Kylie asked quickly, barely knowing how the words managed to get out of her mouth.

She kept her eyes on the road as she refused to look at him, trying to keep her breath focused as she awaited his response.

Sherlock tuned and looked at her before he looked at back out the window.

"You have a killer after you."

"Still," Kylie told him, "You barely used to talk to me and now you are volunteering to come with me places?"

Sherlock remained silent as he turned and looked back out the window, refusing to answer.

Kylie glanced over at him and sighed, knowing that he was not going to answer her.

"Orr.. just avoid it like you always do," Kylie remarked bitterly.

Sherlock's eyes flitted over to her briefly before turning back to the window as they fell into silence once more.

"Well, at least you will get to meet the love of my life," Kylie remarked with a slight smile as she turned down a street.

Sherlock's head whipped around so quick that he most likely gave himself whiplash.

"What?"

Kylie smiled to herself slightly, hearing the slightly jealous tone in Sherlock's voice.

Typically, she hated when girls made men jealous, but the opportunity to mess with him was far too great to pass up.

_Just like old times…_

"You are… in love?"

"Yeah," Kylie said simply, "Why does it matter to you? I thought you didn't believe in love."

"I didn't. I don't." Sherlock said stumbling over his words as Kylie pulled into her driveway.

"Okay," Kylie said as she put the car in park and got out of the car.

Sherlock stared at her in shock and slight anger as something foreign was building within himself.

_What the hell was this?_

… _she's in love with someone else. That's what._

_Why hadn't she said anything?_

Sherlock flung the door open angrily as he got out of the car, stopping in slight shock as he looked around at the place that Kylie called home.

It was a small cottage right on the ocean. It was covered with flowers and a white picket fence that oddly suited her in this tropical place.

"This guy is living with you?" Sherlock asked, unable to control the feelings inside him that were bursting forward as he followed Kylie towards the door.

Kylie paused as she unlocked the door and smiled at him.

"Yeah, he lives with me."

"And now I have to meet the imbecile?"

Kylie stopped and turned around towards him, "Are you jealous?" she asked bluntly with a slight smile.

Sherlock straightened, shifting. His heart temporarily stopped beating as he felt the heat begin to rise in his face.

"NO!" he scoffed, "Of course not. I don't get jealous. You know I don't get jealous."

Kylie raised an eyebrow at his ranting.

_Sherlock Holmes, flustered. You didn't see that very often._

"Of course you don't," Kylie told him as she turned around and put the key in the lock.

As soon as she had the door unlocked and the knob turned, a massive German Shepard leapt out, wagging his tail as he barked happily at Kylie.

"Toby! You miss me love?" she cooed at the dog as she bent down to greet the wiggling dog.

She looked back up at Sherlock like the cat who ate the canary; grinning at him, "Sherlock, meet the love of my life. This is Toby."

Sherlock stared at her blankly.

"A dog?"

"Yeah," Kylie asked with a grin, knowing she had had him going, "What did you think I was talking about?"

Sherlock scoffed and rolled his eyes.

_A dog. He had missed it._

_Clever, clever girl._

He found a slight smile take over his face as he shook his head.

_The only woman who could ever fool him. _

"Toby, this is Sherlock," she told the happy dog as she looked up at Sherlock, smiling.

"It's a dog, Kylie. It cant understand you."

Kylie raised an eyebrow at him before looking back at Toby.

"Toby, can you understand me?"

Toby barked and wagged his tail happily before walking over to Sherlock, who just stared at the dog indifferently.

"He's brilliant," Kylie said smiling as she watched his reaction carefully.

"Do you not like dogs?" Kylie asked him after a moment.

_No, I just don't like dogs that are considered the love of your life._

_Does it matter?_

_No._

"They are unpredictable," Sherlock commented dryly, lying through his teeth "You never know what they are going to attack."

Kylie raised an eyebrow as she stood up, chuckling slightly, "Yeah, because Toby is SO ferocious." She noted to him as she looked down at Toby flop down and groan as he presented his belly for Sherlock to rub.

Sherlock looked down at the dog and cautiously knelt down to scratch the dog's belly, not able to help remembering the way his childhood dog had done a similar thing.

Toby groaned and wagged his tail even more.

Kylie smiled and laughed.

"He likes you."

Sherlock looked up at her and couldn't help but smile. She was watching the pair of them with a glowing, radiant smile on her face. It was a look he hadn't seen from her in a long, long time. It was a look of peace.

He had gotten off the plane, and frozen as he had caught sight of her. A lot of things had been going through his mind at that moment (mainly a set of words for John) but he had quickly noticed the subtle changes that had altered her appearance from the last time he had seen her.

Her long auburn locks had obviously been chopped, making her hair even more wavy. In combination with the tan that seemed to make her eyes even bluer and sparkle, making her look as if she had just come from the beach.

It was a different Kylie than he had known before. The look suited her. She seemed… happy here in San Diego- without him and John and London. He wasn't sure if he liked it, but for some reason, knowing she was happy here irked him and made him happy at the same time.

"What?" she asked him as she smiled.

_There was something about that smile on her face that made her even more beautiful._

…_..What?_

He stood up suddenly, clearing his throat as he looked around.

"You may want to shower. That is why we came here, wasn't it?"

He turned back, locking eyes with Kylie. She just stared at him for a moment. She wasn't sure how long they had been looking at each other before Toby barked, breaking their gaze as they both looked down at the dog.

"Right," Kylie said slightly breathlessly as she picked up her bag and pushed the door open, "Come on in."

Toby followed her into the house, as Sherlock followed closely behind.

"Make yourself at home," she told him as she tossed her bag and keys onto the small table in the entry way as she disappeared down the hallway to what he assumed was her bedroom to shower, "I'll only be a few minutes!"

Sherlock shut the door and allowed his eyes to scan her home. Despite the fact that it was on a different continent, he couldn't help but see the similarities between her home here and her place at Baker Street. Sure she had different furniture and different furnishings, but he felt as if he had walked into her flat in London. The furniture was laid out in a similar fashion, the same photos arranged in the exact same fashion throughout the flat, small reminders of the people she cared about. Pictures of her and her father decorated the mantle, pictures of her mother and sister, Tony, Ziva, McGee, John and Mary, Lestrade, Dimmock… but one picture in particular caught his eye.

It was hidden near the back of a bookshelf, still visible to the eye, but could easily have been avoided. He carefully pulled it out from behind the others, wiping off the thin layer of thin layer of dust as he looked at the photo of himself and Kylie laughing on the couch of 221B that one Christmas.

He felt himself smile for some unbeknownst reason as he looked at the photo. Both of them looked so… happy. It was a look he hadn't seen in himself in months. His stomach began to stir as he gazed at Kylie in the photo; her head tossed back with laughter.

_She was beautiful._

He shut his eyes and shook his head as he replaced the photo. He wasn't doing this. Not here. Not now. He couldn't.

He needed to focus on something else, other than the feelings accumulating in his stomach.

_Something, anything._

_Like how Kylie had a photo of you combined with other people she cares about…?_

He sat on the couch staring at the location of the photo, only able to see part of it as he rubbed and hand over his chin, thinking.

_She had run. She didn't care about him. So why did she have a photo?_

He felt something nudge his knee softly, bringing him out of his thoughts as he looked down to see Toby sitting there with a ball in his mouth as he wagged his tail wildly. Sherlock looked at him, furrowing his eyebrows at the dog. Toby dropped the ball and cocked his head to the side, looking at Sherlock in the same peculiar fashion.

The man stared at the dog for a moment before he scoffed and rolled his eyes at the dog before kicking the ball across the room. Toby got up and chased after it noisily, allowing Sherlock's mind back to his thoughts.

_She had run. She had given up and abandoned him, and yet all of this? This photo? Why?_

The ball was dropped in his lap once more as Toby laid his head on Sherlock's lap, whining slightly as he begged Sherlock to throw his ball once more.

Sherlock looked down at Toby looking up at him with his enormous brown eyes. Sherlock couldn't help but laugh as he ran a hand over Toby's soft coat, petting the creature with affection.

He really was a smart animal.

Toby nudged the ball in his lap and whined once more. Sherlock chuckled lightly; the dog was about as focused and stubborn as Kylie was. The dog nudged once more, thumping his tail on the floor for emphasis, causing Sherlock to give in and throw the ball once more.

"He grows on you, doesn't he?"

Sherlock looked up at the opposing hallway seeing Kylie leaning against the doorway in nothing but her bathrobe, her hair dripping wet from her shower, all trace of makeup gone.

His mouth went dry as he watched her for a moment, trying to squeeze the excess water from her hair. Those butterflies in his stomach were returning, as he couldn't tear his eyes off of her. He felt the endorphins flowing though his body as his blood began to flow in a different direction…

_Oh Dear Lord, not this again… Why was he losing control of his body?_

"You okay?" Kylie asked, frowning at him as she removed him from his thoughts.

"Yes," he answered shortly as he shifted, trying to ease the tightness in his pants as he put his jacket in his lap.

"You sure?" she asked as she ruffled her hair, trying to release her waves and add more volume to her wet hair as she looked at him with concern.

…_the same hair he so desperately wanted to run his hands through…_

"You've been acting sort of weird."

"I'm fine, I'm always fine," Sherlock said quickly.

Kylie raised an eyebrow at him skeptically as she tossed her towel over a chair and walked into the kitchen. Sherlock watched her as she bent down to pick up Toby's bowl and began spooning dog food into it. Toby immediately dropped his ball immediately and began wagging his tail as he rushed into the kitchen, knowing his breakfast was coming.

Sherlock shot a look at the photo. What was he doing? Why did this woman… this relatively average woman have such a hold on him? No other woman had ever roused such feelings and such a loss of control from inside of him. Not Irene, not Janine, no other woman had ever disrupted his homeostasis more than she had.

A smell wafted towards him as she walked past to set Toby's food down for him to eat; that all to familiar and arousing smell of lavender and vanilla.

_He had missed that smell…_

"So what do we do next?" she asked him as she leaned on the back of the couch, looking at him.

His mind went blank as he stared at her in slight shock.

"What…?"

"…with the case?" Kylie said slowly, furrowing her eyebrows at him.

Sherlock's mind reset.

_Right… the case…_

Kylie laughed slightly and shook her head at his odd behavior, "I mean we have two suspects and almost zero evidence."

_Case, the case… he needed to focus on the case and everything else would go away._

"I mean we have the ketamine, but…" Kylie trailed off as she looked at him, a light turning on in her eyes, the same one he always saw when she made a connection on a case.

"The ketamine…"

Sherlock looked at her strangely, not following… for once.

"Ketamine is a pain management drug," Kylie said as she walked around the couch, sitting next to him, "Doctors Within City Limits mainly treat sexually transmitted diseases."

"So why would they need ketamine?" Sherlock asked as it all clicked into place, "its an anomaly."

"Exactly! So if it was one of those two doctors, how on earth did they have access to hospital grade ketamine?"

"The two doctors, what were their specialties?" Sherlock asked as he got up, grabbed her bag and rummaged through it until he found the file.

Kylie raised an eyebrow at him as he tossed her bag aside, completely engrained in the file. She made to object, but stopped as she realized that it was pointless.

"Trauma and OBGYN," Kylie responded as Sherlock sat back down reading the file.

"Karl Forman works in trauma," Sherlock read.

Then it hit Kylie.

"…He does trauma work at St. Joseph's on the weekend…"

"Its perfect," Sherlock muttered as he sat back, not yet satisfied with the case.

"Sherlock, we just solved it!"

"It wouldn't be this easy, it shouldn't be this easy."

"It doesn't matter what it should or shouldn't be. We solved it."

"Sometimes the simplest solution isn't always the answer."

Kylie gave him a look, not quite following his logic.

"Think about it: If Thomas were behind this, it wouldn't be this simple. Thomas is a criminal mastermind who worked under Moriarty. Both of them think, plan, imagine, create… he wouldn't allow just any primate to play in his plots."

"Look, no one says Thomas is even involved in this or that I am even a target."

Sherlock looked over at her as if she had grown another head.

BARK!

Toby began barking as car doors shut outside of her home.

"It's not. I'm not." Kylie said as she got up to answer the incessant knocking that began on her front door.

"Kylie," Sherlock said pointedly as he jumped up and stepped in front of her before she could reach the door, "Go into the kitchen."

Kylie stared at him as if she were expecting him to say 'just kidding' and jump out of the way, but when he didn't, she just rolled her eyes and huffed.

"I cant even answer my own Goddamn door?" she muttered as she stomped into the kitchen.

Sherlock glanced back, making sure she was safely out of sight before peering through the peephole and rolling his eyes before unlocking and opening the door.

"Took you long enough," Charlie complained as he, John and Lestrade entered her home, "Where's Kylie?'

"Right here," Kylie said as she walked out from around the corner, "Sir Lancelot over here wouldn't even let me answer the door."

Charlie stood up a bit straighter as he took in his partner's appearance, a small smile coming over his face as he looked her up and down.

"Are you wearing anything underneath that?"

Kylie glared before she walked over to him and slapped him upside the back of the head.

"Grow up Charlie," she snapped impatiently.

"Ooh, aggressive," Charlie bantered back before he got slapped again.

"Children!" Lestrade said, getting the two partners to stop bickering, "We have a bigger problem at hand."

"What?"

"Get dressed Ky," John said darkly, "We have another scene."

**&amp;^#*( &amp;#( *)(**

Kylie hopped out of Charlie's SUV, walking quickly towards the scene. It didn't take long for her to spot Detective Hernandez standing outside of the building.

"Hernandez! What have we got?" Kylie asked as she ducked under the tape, followed closely by Sherlock and the rest of the group.

"Doc?" Hernandez said with slight surprise as he looked at her, "What are you doing here?"

"It's a scene Manuel."

"You shouldn't be though," he told her quietly, "It's a conflict of interest."

Kylie frowned, puzzled by his words.

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Edwards can go in, but don't touch anything. Otherwise it will be my ass on the line with yours in the DA's office."

Kylie gave him a nod of thanks before she made to walk in the door, Sherlock already in the building.

"Hey! I said you and Edwards. I don't know who these clowns are!" Hernandez told her.

"They are with me Manuel," Kylie told him, "They are with Scotland Yard."

"I don't like people I don't know on my scene Doc."

"Then call it a personal favor," Kylie asked him.

Hernandez stared at the group for a moment before nodding.

"Alright Doc."

"Thank you."

Kylie followed the trail of officers into the building, finding their way into a small apartment. She stepped over the tape and as soon as she did, the smell of blood filled the air.

She walked in, finding Sherlock already in the middle of the room, staring at something on the opposite wall.

"Where's the body?" John asked as he looked around the room, not seeing a corpse on the floor.

"Because there is no body," Sherlock said in a slightly hoarse voice.

Kylie stepped forward into the room, finally seeing what Sherlock had been gazing at.

In the middle of the wall over a small TV was a message smeared in what seemed to be human blood.

Kylie felt her blood freeze in her veins at the chilling sight, but it wasn't until she read the message that her heart stopped out of fear.

_Eight little whores, with no hope of heaven,_

_The Good Doctor may save one, then there'll be seven._

_Seven little whores beggin for a shilling,_

_One stays in Henage Court, then there's a killing._

_Six little whores, glad to be alive,_

_One sidles up to Jack, then there are five._

_Four and whore rhyme aright,_

_So do three and me,_

_I'll set the town alight_

_Ere there are two._

_Two little whores, shivering with fright,_

_Seek a cosy doorway in the middle of the night._

_Jack's knife flashes, then there's but one,_

_And the last one's the ripest for Jack's idea of fun._

_I'll be waiting for you Dr. Gibbs. No one can keep you safe._

_How bout a little REDRUM?_

"Fucking Hell," Charlie muttered.

Kylie couldn't respond as she was staring petrified at the poem on the wall when Sherlock turned his head towards her.

"Still don't believe you are a target, Kyleigha?"

**Review? Pretty please?**


	9. Chapter 9

**So SO sorry this took me forever you guys! I had to wrap up my semester and I am leaving for a week long conference tomorrow so I have been super busy! My apologies! I tried to make it extra long to make up for it!**

**A HUGE thanks to my amazing reviewers: padfootfaerie123, my guest reviewers, dinosauce4, popstarJ01, shell8141, shurfine, fantasyfreak133, bored411, ShikaKibaShinoGal, ele22, AnimeWriter45,and Eirthdiel for their reviews!  
**

**Apologies for errors or lack of… sense making… I had a bit of wine celebrating the end of semester while writing this over a few days. Bottles of wine lost their lives over this chapter. **

**Anyhow, enjoy!**

"Why am I a target?" Kylie asked herself more than any one else as they sat around the table back in the conference room.

"What in the hell is that poem?" Charlie asked out loud as he hadn't heard Kylie's small remark.

The group had been quickly booted off the scene once FBI forensics had gotten there. Between Sherlock and Charlie they had been able to snap a few photos of the scene so they had something to work on while they waited the results of the forensic unit. A picture of the poem the killer left on the wall was up on the screen, all of them staring at it in silence, trying to find some sort of hidden clue that would lead them to the killer.

"It is a representation of the same poem the Ripper supposedly sent to the Yard. It was deemed most likely a hoax, but why the killer adapted it… that is the larger question," Sherlock muttered.

"So that's what?" John asked, looking over at his dark haired companion, "Three messages now?"

"And all three of them were supposedly sent by the Ripper to Scotland Yard?"

"At least he didn't send us and ear or a kidney this time," Lestrade joked morbidly as he ran a hand through his hair.

John frowned as this was the point when Sherlock went on a rant, leaping up, insulting people, and finding some lead in a midst of confusion, but he wasn't. He had sort of begun this process with his prior comment, but he had suddenly gone quiet. John looked over at him. The same man who was nearly manic over cases was suddenly quiet. He was staring at the woman next to him with worry… well, as much worry as Sherlock Holmes could possibly show on his face in a room full of people.

John fought a smile as he saw Sherlock's hand lift ever-so-slightly from the table as if he considered reaching over to cover Kylie's hand reassuringly, but before he could even move, his body convulsed slightly as if he had come back to reality in slight shock. He sat up straight, clearing his throat as he looked anywhere but at Kylie.

John shook his head and looked back down at the case file.

As frustrating as it was to watch his two friends be in denial and dance around each other, it was progress. Being across the globe from each other had been both good and bad for them; gave Kylie confidence and Sherlock… well it gave him realistic views.

He felt guilty for even thinking it, but this murder, it may have been a miracle for his friends.

Things were changing; not only in his friend's life, but in his own. He hadn't told his friend yet, and part of him wanted to keep it quiet until Sherlock had Kylie back in his life. He just had to say a silent prayer in order to hopefully convince his stubborn friends that they are better off with each other than without.

"So…" Charlie said, bringing John's attention back to the room, "We've narrowed it down to two suspects based on the fact that ketamine was used…"

Charlie could barely get the words out of his mouth before a red faced, enraged Hastings stormed into the room.

"The killer left a note in blood, with one of my AGENTS NAMES ON IT, AND I HAVE TO FIND OUT FROM THE POLICE?" Hastings bellowed before he stepped forward and yelling directly in Charlie's face like a drill sergeant, "Edwards you know better. You KNOW to let me know what you find as soon as you find it! YOU HEAR ME, EDWARDS?"

"Sir we.."

"SHUT IT!" Hastings yelled as the veins in his forehead began to pop out of his forehead before he turned on Kylie, "What in the hell connection do you have to all of this Gibbs?"

Kylie looked up at him, at a loss for words, shock still written all over her face.

"I have no idea, Sir."

"BULLSHIT!" Hastings yelled as his fist hit the table, making her jump at least a foot in the air, "Your name was written in blood on the FUCKIGN WALL GIBBS! This guy has isolated you for a reason, and you are going to tell me that reason, or I will fire you so quick you wont even know what hit you!"

"Sir, she doesn't know!" Charlie exclaimed trying to revert his attention back on to him, as Kylie was beginning to crumble before their eyes.

"SHUT IT EDWARDS!" Hastings roared, "Or I will fire your ass too!"

"Sir, I don't know. I don't know why any of this is personal or why the killer is focused on me."

"YOU KNOW GIBBS!"

"ENOUGH!" Sherlock yelled as he stood up, giving Hastings an icy glare. The entire bullpen went silent as everyone stopped to listen to the foreigner stand up to their boss.

Even Kylie and Charlie stared at Sherlock in blatant shock.

Hastings stared at him, taken aback by his outburst before he began laughing slightly, "Excuse me?"

"Yelling at her is not beneficial. Do you really think that she knows how they are connected? Why the killer is after her? No, a good leader would be concerned that one of his best agents has a killer after her. But you…" Sherlock trailed off as he looked Hastings up and down, smiling to himself as things began to stand out to him, "…you are far too stupid to figure that out. Let me guess? Military lieutenant? Served in the military all of your adult life. You were grandfathered in from your father's high post. Didn't have to earn a single bit of your military title, as Daddy made sure that you had your title…"

Hastings face fell. John groaned to himself; this would not end well.

"You were desperate to climb the ranks, and your father's legacy helped you, but only to a point. You were so bad at your job that the army refused to promote you any longer without anything to show for it, so you got lumped into administration in the FBI. You have no skill, or even know how to complete a proper investigation. You aren't even competent enough to solve who took the last biscuit on the plate. You yell at your agents, establishing authority through fear and loud noises… which I have to say is the most primal and most similar to that of primates that I have seen in, well, ages."

He paused for a moment, looking at Hastings.

"Which is most likely why your wife is leaving you," he added on quickly, "Well, that and the fact you are having an affair with a man," he said as an afterthought.

Whispers filled the floor as Hastings shook with silent fury; his face now a pale white. The man had no idea how to react or what to do. He just stood there, lifting a shaking hand up to loosen his tie, avoiding everyone's eye.

"You're off the case, Gibbs," he said as he turned and stormed back to his office, slamming the door shut loudly behind him.

Kylie sat there gaping at the spot where Hastings had been standing just moments earlier before she began laughing at disbelief, looking up at Sherlock.

Sherlock smirked as he looked at her; his insides fluttering as she looked at him with a smile on her face.

"That…. That was amazing!" Charlie whispered in disbelief as he sat down in the chair.

"Don't encourage him, please," John said rolling his eyes before rounding on his friend, "Do you have to piss off everyone we run into?"

"I made an observation," Sherlock said simply as he retook his seat next to Kylie.

"No you found an excuse to show off."

"He deserved it."

"Yeah, he did, but it still isn't a reason to do it."

"It just annoys you."

"Yes, yes it does."

"Alright ladies," Charlie condoned, smiling slightly at the bickering pair, "So what do we need to do next?"

"Track down Karl Foreman," Kylie said as she pulled a file and stood up, putting on her coat, "We need to figure out how on earth he is connect to me."

"Uh, one thing," Charlie said raising his hand, "You are off the case."

Kylie smirked, "No, I'm not."

"Hastings said…"

"Hastings can now be blackmailed thanks to some ingenious insight," Kylie told him as she grabbed her gun and her badge, "The Ripper is on the loose and I want to catch this son of a bitch before he kills again. I'll be damned if Hastings keeps me off the case because of some writing on a wall."

Kylie then turned on her heel and stormed out the door. Sherlock smirked before swiftly grabbing his coat and following her out.

Lestrade sighed and looked at John and Charlie, "Well, good to know she is still as stubborn as she was."

"Her stubborn streak is going to get her killed on day," Charlie sighed as the three of them grabbed their coats as well before following the pair out to find Dr. Karl Foreman.

***&amp;$(#*()# )#**

"Kylie!" Charlie yelled as he chased after her in the parking garage as she and Sherlock headed towards the SUV, "Do you even have a plan?"

"Yep!" Kylie said as she kept walking.

Charlie sighed and grabbed her arm, stopping and spinning her around.

"Seriously Kylie. Do you even know where to find him?"

"We go to the hospital. Its Saturday and he should be working. The man is a doctor, he shouldn't be that hard to find." Kylie explained as she broke out of Charlie's grip and continued walking towards his SUV, impatiently trying the handle as she waited for him to unlock it.

"Fine," Charlie sighed as he unlocked the car, "But you are staying in the car."

"Um…, no I'm not," Kylie told him as they all climbed into the car.

"Yes you are," the rest of the men said as they all got into the car.

Kylie froze and looked at her companions in slight confusion.

"Since when did you all team up against me?"

"Uh, well first of all," John spoke up, "We are not teaming up against you. Its called caring about you not dying. And second of all, we aren't going to let you go hunting for a man who literally wrote your name in blood on a wall."

"Agreed," Charlie said as they began driving towards the hospital.

Kylie scoffed, "So I just get benched?" she asked as she crossed her arm in exasperation from the back seat, "I can take care of myself. Its my job to hunt this guy down!"

"Yes, but lets just play it safe while there is a psycho killer on the loose and he's targeting you," Lestrade inputted as they neared the hospital.

"I'll be fine!"

"Yeah, you will," Charlie said as he parked the car and gave Lestrade a nod before he, John and Sherlock leapt out, quickly shutting and locking the door behind them. Kylie made a noise of objection as she tried to hop out as well, only to have the door slammed in her face. She clambered over the seat and tried the door, only to find it locked from the outside.

Kylie rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation as she remembered Charlie had just gotten his SUV fixed to hold criminals; now there were no locks on the inside f the vehicle and the door could only be opened from the outside. She couldn't get out.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Kylie said as she still tried the door stubbornly, knowing it was a helpless cause.

"Its for your own good, you know," Lestrade told her from the front seat, guarding the setting that would switch the doors back.

"Greg, you need to let me out of this car," she told him in a serious voice.

"Not gonna happen Ky!"

Kylie groaned and threw herself back against the seat in frustration.

Lestrade laughed to himself; Sherlock's child-like behavior had rubbed off on her during their time together.

The car fell into silence for a moment, before Lestrade smiled to himself.

"He's happier, you know," he told her casually.

"What?" Kylie asked as she was lost by the randomness of his statement.

"Sherlock," Lestrade cleared up, "He's been much happier since he's been here. Not the sad, mopey, dick he was back in London."

Kylie groaned and shut her eyes once more, "Why does everyone want to talk about me and Sherlock?"

"Because as much as you two both deny it, you are bloody perfect for each other."

Kylie rolled her eyes and sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, trying to calm the uneasiness in her stomach.

"Greg, as sweet as that is, Sherlock and I are through. We tried it and it didn't work out. Its over and it wont happen again," she said trying to convince herself at the same time.

_It is Kylie._

Lestrade looked at her in the rearview mirror as he watched her squirm and fidget slightly, "Yeah, because you are really confident with that answer," he stated sarcastically with a grin.

Kylie sat up and glared at him, "It isn't, Greg."

"Fine. All that I know is that it is nice to have the old Sherlock back. We were all getting really sick of the mopy, sad, and depressed Sherlock that had been laying around refusing cases since you left…. Though it was nice not having him talk sometimes."

Kylie looked up at the back of her old boss's head. Was he right? Did Sherlock actually miss her?

_No…_

He didn't need her. He never had. He had been the one to shove her away. He had refused when she had tried to work things out.

_People change._

_Not Sherlock Holmes._

The car door opened once more as Sherlock popped his head in the car and paused, staring at her as she was currently sitting in his seat. Kylie raised an eyebrow at him as he just stared her down before she sighed, giving in and clambering back into the back seat.

"What'd you guys find?" she asked as she sat back in her seat properly.

"Well, we couldn't find him," Charlie told her as he started the car, "But, we bribed the nursing staff and now we know where he is."

"So… where?"

"Do you remember that illegal gambling ring that Hastings put us on right after you got here?" Charlie asked with a smile as they began driving back to the FBI.

"Yeah when we had to spend the 72 hours in the van?"

"According to the nurse, Karl Foreman has a thing for big Russians and illegal gambling," Charlie told her with a smile.

Kylie felt herself smile, "You're thinking undercover?"

"Of course."

***#&amp;( *#( *)($**

"I seriously hate this van," Kylie complained quietly as she took a sip of her tea.

"Its… cozy," Lestrade said as he stared at the monitor.

"Cozy is putting it nicely," Charlie gripped, "there are only suppose to be three at most back here and we have five and Kylie's ginormous duffle bag," he complained as his foot hit the bag for the tenth time that night.

It was true. They were all crammed in the back of the small surveillance van as they watched the screen, trying to find Karl Foreman. They had been able to hack into one of the surveillance cameras from the store across the alleyway to watch the entrance.

"I mean Jesus, Kylie. What do you even have in here?" Charlie complained as he sized up the duffle bag.

"Its just incase," she told him as she stared at the screen.

"Just incase?" Charlie asked as he bed down to look in it.

Kylie smacked him on the back of the head before yanking him up by the shirt collar, "Leave it!"

Charlie glared at her while rubbing his neck as Kylie smirked successfully.

"So what's the plan?" Lestrade asked, "because this place looks just as heavily guarded as Buckingham palace."

"Yeah, it typically is," Charlie sighed, "The game is run by a Russian Mob known as the triad. We've been trying to shut them down for years now, but they keep coming back like cockroaches."

"Triad? Isn't that a Chinese gang?" John asked in confusion.

"It is," Kylie answered, "But this Russian gang modeled their system after them. They also go by 'ot traidy' or, 'from the triad'. Essentially is based with three large Russian and Serbian gangsters combined forces to this gang. Because they come from the same mold, the Russians and Chinese formed and alliance, which is most likely this game is played in China town."

"On that note, shall I go in?" Charlie asked as he began to take off his shirt to hook up the wire.

Kylie turned and watched him for a moment, "How in the hell do you plan on getting in there?"

"Regan in VICE owes me a favor. He got me in under an alias," Charlie told her with a smile.

"Regan HATES you," Kylie pointed out.

"Which is why its even more impressive that I got in," Charlie smiled.

Kylie rolled her eyes as she watched him fumble with the wire, "And when were you going to share this?"

"When I was sure you couldn't come with me," he told her as he fumbled even more with the wires.

Kylie sighed and snatched the wire out of his hand, trying to turn in the small van before she snatched the wire out of his hand and began doing it herself.

John smirked as he felt Sherlock sit up straighter and let out a long breath that was borderline a growl.

_Jealous… Sherlock Holmes was jealous of the woman taping a wire to another man's chest._

"There," Kylie said as she taped down the rest of the wire, "put your shirt back on. I need to put on the camera."

"You were enjoying the view," Charlie smirked at her egotistically.

Kylie wacked him in the chest, "I wasn't. Put your damn shirt on Charlie."

"Okay, okay!" Charlie said as he began to button up his shirt as Kylie grabbed a pin and put the button camera onto her partner's shirt.

She then turned back around in the cramped quarters, pressing a few buttons on the laptop before the screen came to life and was transmitting the video feed from the small pin on Charlie's shirt to the screen.

"Alright, we are up and running. We will be able to hear you Charlie, but we don't have an earpiece. From what I remember…."

"These guys have a knack for finding them. Yeah Ky, I remember. I'll be fine. Don't worry!" Charlie said cutting her off with a smile.

"I'm serious Charlie, be careful!"

"Yeah yeah," Charlie said as he hopped out of the van, shutting the door behind him.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" John asked quietly as they all turned to watch the feed of Charlie walking down the street.

"I'm not sure, but I have the same feeling," Kylie stated as that all too familiar 'bad' feeling in her stomach began to grow the closer Charlie walked to the enterence of the card game.

"Hey! How you guys doing?" Charlie asked the man at the door, with what Kylie assumed was charming smile.

The man just stared back before yanking Charlie's arms away from his body and began patting him down, pulling out his gun and taking it from him.

"No guns," the man said in a gruff Russian accent.

"Sorry, forgot about that one I guess," Charlie said with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Name?"

"Richard Hunter," Charlie said in his silkly smooth voice once more.

Kylie snorted loudly into her tea as she began laughing, startling the rest of the men in the surveillance van.

"Its funny," Kylie laughed, "Regan in VICE hates Charlie because he 'accidentally' slept with Regan's 22 year old niece who came to stay with him for a week. Charlie thinks they made up, but I knew Regan was just waiting to get him back."

"By helping him?" Lestrade asked.

"Richard Hunter?" Kylie sniggered, still receiving a blank stare from her friends, "The poor bastard didn't even realize Regan gave him the alias name of 'Dick Hunter'."

Lestrade smirked as John shook his head and chuckled, while Sherlock rolled his eyes and muttered "grow up" under his breath.

"What?" Kylie asked, "Its amusing!"

Kylie received a few more head shakes before they all turned their attention back to the screen to find Charlie wandering around the main room.

The room had about ten tables and were covered in men from Russia and China along with more prostitutes and drugs than imaginable. The room was like the poster child for the seven deadly sins.

Charlie got a drink at the bar, taking his time to scout the room. He thanked the bartender before turning completely to get a better view of the room, finally spotting Karl Foreman sitting at a table filled with large and burly looking Russians.

They watched from the van with baited breath as Charlie plopped down in the seat next to their suspect and began receiving glares immediately from everyone at the table.

"How you all doing?" Charlie said charmingly.

"This is no limit table," one of the Russians said gruffly.

"Good," Charlie said, "Perfect, I'm a no limit kind of guy."

Charlie plopped a large stack of bills on the table and told the dealer, "Change for ten thousand please."

Lestrade and John gaped while Kylie rolled her eyes and Sherlock stared blankly at the screen.

"Ten thousand?" Lestrade said in disbelief, "He just has that kind of cash on him?"

"Stupid bastard," Kylie muttered, "Charlie is a trust-fund baby. His grandfather invented post-it notes and he's pretty much loaded beyond belief."

The dealer raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Foreman before the man nodded and handed him a stack of chips before dealing him in.

Charlie turned to Karl Foreman, "You from around here?" he asked.

Karl gave him a weird look, "Just play cards and mind your own business mate."

"Right," Charlie said as he looked down at his cards and began to play.

The rest of the table began to look at him again and speak Russian to one another, Karl Foreman joining in with them in fairly good Russian.

"Foreman speaks fluent Russian?" John asked in slight surprise.

"Yeah they're going to take him for everything he's got," Kylie said, earning her a shocked look from everyone inside the van.

"You speak Russian?" Sherlock asked, even he was shocked.

"Yeah," Kylie muttered, "My Dad learned it when he had a mission in Russia for two years. So when he was learning it, I learned it also."

"How did I not know that?' Sherlock muttered looking at Kylie as if he had just met her for the first time.

"There's a lot about me you don't know," Kylie said grinning at him.

"There's a bunch of hookers here," Charlie said as they played, "I hear there is a serial killer going after whores nowadays."

They could literally see Karl Foreman stiffen beside him while all of the other Russians at the table glowered at Charlie.

"What do you mean mate?" Foreman asked angrily.

"There's a copy-cat out there. A Jack the Ripper Copy-cat, and he's targeting prostitutes. These girls may want to look out. I mean, there could be a monster among us."

"What is he doing?" Lestrade asked, panic in his voice.

"Playing poker," Sherlock said.

"He's trying to get a rouse out of them, but that's stupid Charlie, that's very VERY stupid," Kylie said nervously.

"How does he do it?" Karl asked, "this 'copy-cat'?"

"Well, he is intelligent, most likely a Doctor. Drugs the victims with hospital grade ketamine before he slits their throats and guts them like fish," Charlie said while staring down Karl Foreman.

The Russians began speaking once more.

"Crap," Kylie breathed before grabbing the duffle bag on the floor.

"What are they saying?" John asked.

"That he knows too much, they are going to kill him," Kylie said as she leapt out of the van, leaving the driver side door open that was parked next to the alley wall.

"Its heavily guarded!" Lestrade said as Kylie hid behind the door and opened the bag, "What are you going to do?"

"Go in there and get him," Kylie said as she began moving around, still obstructed from the men's view.

"How?" John asked, "you can't go in there guns a blazing, they'll kill us!"

"Yeah," Kylie said as she zipped up the bag once more, "But I have something that you three don't."

Kylie shut the door so she was in the men's view once more, "breasts."

The three men gaped slightly at the sight of her. She had removed her jeans and shoes and was just wearing the long sweater she had on in the van with a belt wrapped around her waist as if to hold it together loosely like a dress. The top however was loosely bound and the neckline plunged all the way down to the base of her black lace bra. Her boots had been removed and replaced with a pair of black pumps making her already defined legs, even longer.

Kylie removed her hair from the ponytail it was in and tossed it around a little, not noticing the stares she was getting from the three men in the van.

"Can you hand me my purse?" She asked as she messed about with her hair slightly.

"Uh, yeah," John said snapping out of it slightly and handing her her bag.

Kylie pulled out a tube of lipstick and began applying it.

"What are you going to do? Lipstick them to death?" Lestrade inquired.

"I was thinking of going in with Jonathan Wiley after pulling an Irene Adler?" Kylie said looking at Sherlock with a slight smile.

The corner of Sherlock's mouth turned into a grin as he realized what she was planning and pulled off his jacket and jumped out of the van immediately next to Kylie.

"Do what?" Lestrade asked, lost looking at John as Kylie chucked the lipstick and purse at him.

"Lestrade, right now my partner is in there about to get his brains blown out and my last hope is to essentially whore myself in there with Sherlock so shut up and let us get our disguises on," Kylie snapped before pulling a slightly unsuspecting Sherlock in for kiss.

Both Lestrade and John's eyebrows shot into their hairlines as Kylie pulled back quickly to a still shocked Sherlock. She stared at him for a moment before she cleared her throat and began to smear the lipstick strategically all over his face before she kissed his neck and purposefully got lipstick on his shirt collar.

John could have SWORN that Sherlock's eyes had shut a little too long when he blinked while Kylie's lips had been on his neck. He cleared his throat loudly as she began unbuttoning and rebuttoning his shirt quickly, mismatching the buttons purposefully. Kylie looked at him before her hands went to his hair, messing it up to look at if her hands had made a home there.

"There," Kylie said to him before turning back to Lestrade and John, "If we aren't back in fifteen, call it in."

Kylie then shut the door, leaving Lestrade and John alone in the van.

They just stared at the door for a moment, in slight shock of what they just saw.

"I guess Irene Adler was right after all," John said turning to Lestrade, "A disguise shows much more of yourself then you are aware."

**I borrowed a bit of this from Castle. I was inspired :D**

**Anyhow, Review? Make my day?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A Massive thanks to PopstarJ01, fantasyfreak133, newtofanfic, bored411, Eirithdiel, my guest reviewer, shell8141, and CoffeeSwan for their reviews!**

**I wrote this between lectures… and maybe during one or two.. so apologies for any typos. **

**Enjoy you guys!**

Kylie's heart was beating out of her chest as she and Sherlock walked quickly down the street towards the card game. She wasn't sure if it was because of the adrenaline pumping through her veins, or because she was in so little clothing standing next to Sherlock.

_Charlie is in danger… focus…_

They reached the corner and as they rounded it, Sherlock threw his arm around Kylie's waist and pulled her close as they began to stumble drunkenly down the street towards the entrance of the game.

_God, his body felt amazing next to her. _

Kylie saw the guards watching them suspiciously.

"We need to make it convincing," Kylie muttered to him as they stumbled together.

"Play along," Sherlock muttered back.

Kylie looked at him in slight confusion, but before she had a chance to react, she found herself being shoved up roughly against the alley wall as Sherlock's lips met her's fiercely. She felt electricity shoot through her body as elation numbed everything else. Goosebumps covered her skin as she raised one leg for him to hold, balancing her against the wall as his body was completely pressed into hers. Something shot through her body as she felt his entire body pressed tightly against hers. She clung to reality as her hands immediately tangled in his hair, trying to grasp onto something to keep her world from spinning off its axis.

She felt her chest nearly explode as his lips left her mouth, moving down her neck; nipping and sucking as his hands explored the curves of her body. She felt as if she were about to combust as his lips found that sensitive spot on her neck and his hands neared her breasts, forcing her to let out an unconscious moan.

_That's it… she couldn't take it anymore. She was going to have him right against this wall. _

Kylie's hands went immediately to his chest as she began unbuttoning his shirt and began to try to rake her hands over her chest as she felt him shiver under her touch. Encouraged by the reaction, she continued her ministration as her lips grazed over his collarbone, making him groan.

"Hey! Get room you two!"

Kylie stiffened in surprise as Sherlock did as well, bringing at least Kylie back to reality.

She was suddenly aware of her surroundings, coming back to reality.

_What…? _

_Working… they were working. This wasn't real. It was acting…_

Kylie glanced up at Sherlock. His shirt was now completely unbuttoned, his pupils were the size of saucers as he panted slightly.

_Good Lord he was sexy…_

_Dammit Kylie! Charlie is in there about to get his head blown off and all you can think about is sex? Seriously?_

"Come on, mate!" Sherlock said in his smooth Jonathan Wiley voice that was slightly slurred as to keep up the appearance.

…_Acting this was all acting. None of this was real…_

_But damn, it felt real…_

_No. he doesn't feel anything for you Kylie. Get over it! FOCUS! Charlie needs you!_

Kylie took a breath, refocusing herself before she turned around.

"We are just looking for a good time," she said flirtatiously as she cuddled into Sherlock's side, trying to play off their cover, "Cant a girl just want some sex and a card game?"

"You can. Not here," the gruff guard told them, "Scram."

Sherlock threw his arm around Kylie's waist as he stumbled them forward.

"We just want to play cards mate. That's all."

The guard just stared at them, unmoving.

"Look," Kylie said stepping forward as she smiled at the guard, "We know a guy inside. My uh… friend here, I'm his good luck charm. I was trying to share my… luck with him before you interrupted us. Maybe, if you let us in, I'll be your luck too."

A smile pulled slightly on the large Russian man's lips as he leaned slightly closer to her. As he did, Kylie reacted quickly by planting the stiletto of her pump into the man's arch, distracting him with the pain before she executed a few knees and punches before the man was unconscious on the ground.

"Well played," Sherlock complimented in a slightly impressed voice as he rebuttoned his shirt.

Kylie sighed and straightened her clothes, combing her hair out of her face.

"Thank you."

She looked away quickly as she began to try to drag the guard behind the dumpster. Sherlock jumped into help her and together they hid the large man out of sight. He knelt down quickly, removing a gun from the man's belt and stuffing it down the back of his pants.

"You um…" Kylie began as she looked at him, "you have some lipstick…"

Sherlock frowned at her before she hesitantly reached up to rub it off the corner of his mouth. She did so awkwardly as she stared at him, barely able to breathe as she did. Sherlock's eyes locked onto hers, causing her heart to stop all together.

Neither of them moved. They just kept staring at each other locked in a heated gaze after what had just happened between the two of them.

Kylie didn't know what to think. Part of her was certain there had to be something behind what had just occurred, but the other part of her reminded her how good of an actor this man was. He fooled Janine; making her think that there had been a real relationship there…

…Would he do that to her?

_Yes. There is nothing between you two anymore. You know that._

_But the passion… the want… the need…_

"We should go," Sherlock told her, still not moving.

Kylie stared at him blankly for a moment, trying to process his words as she still came back to reality.

_Charlie… right_

"Yeah, come on," Kylie said as she grabbed his hand and they quickly rushed into the game.

They slipped casually into the main room, scanning the floor for any sign of Charlie.

"Where the hell is he?" Kylie muttered quietly to Sherlock as they tried not to draw suspicion.

"The table," Sherlock pointed out.

Kylie followed his eye line before she saw the familiar table full of Russians… and two empty chairs.

"He's gone. So is Foreman," Kylie whispered, panic in her voice.

"Kitchen," Sherlock said quickly, noticing the door behind the bar was swinging ever-so-slightly, "Come on."

They quickly slipped behind the bar and made their way down the hall, hearing voices echo down the small corridor. Kylie glanced a Sherlock, before they carefully hid behind the door, hearing Charlie and Foreman in the room.

Kylie peered carefully in the room, seeing her partner up against the stove, looking down the barrel of Foreman's gun.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time," Foreman yelled at him, "What do you know?"

"Put the gun down man!" Charlie told him, "Just put it down, and lets talk!"

Sherlock pulled her back behind the wall of the door, hiding her from Foreman's line of sight.

She gave him a look of thanks as she had gotten caught up in watching what was going on.

"YOU KNOW SOMETHING!"

"I just know what he does!"

Foreman cocked the gun, aiming it right into Charlie's chest.

Kylie made to get up, but Sherlock shoved her down once more.

"My partner," she whispered before she got up, walking through the door, putting on a façade and slipping out of Sherlock's grasp.

"Richard? Richard I have been looking for you everywhere!" Kylie said in a voice that was surprisingly close to a purr. She stopped and looked at Foreman as she ran a hand up Charlie's arm.

"Oh, hello," she said with a seductive smile.

Charlie just stared at his partner in complete confusion and disbelief of what she was doing.

"Piss off Sweetheart," Foreman told her.

"Richard, what did you do?" Kylie asked, rounding on Charlie.

Charlie just stared at her, at a loss before he turned to Foreman, "Don't shoot me. Let's talk."

Kylie sighed loudly, "You are seriously no where near a man!" she said as she pulled away from him, looking over at Foreman, "He's a little girl. Wont even be a real man to keep his woman around. I have to take care of him. What kind of a woman wants that?"

Charlie screwed up his face in confusion.

"You are seriously taking this as a chance to question my manhood?"

"Yeah, because you don't have one," Kylie bickered back.

"Seriously?" Charlie gaped, now ignoring the gun pointed at him.

Kylie turned towards Foreman, looking at him seductively, "You would protect me, wouldn't you?"

"You are such a slut!" Charlie told her, causing Kylie to spin on him angrily, "You always flirt with other guys in front of me!"

"Well maybe if I was satisfied in bed, I wouldn't have to!"

Foreman was now the one who was confused, looking between the bickering couple.

"Maybe if you didn't just lie there, but actually moved around a little, you would have an orgasm every once in while…"

"HEY!" Foreman yelled, not knowing what else to do as he couldn't decide who to focus on, "Shut up! Both of you!"

They both went quiet as they looked at Foreman.

"I like a man that takes charge," Kylie said as she began waltzing towards him.

"This doesn't concern you," Foreman told her, pointing the gun at Charlie, "Get out of her love before it gets messy."

"How does it not concern me?" Kylie asked seductively.

"It doesn't."

"Actually…," Kylie said as she reached out and took the gun from him, wrenching Foreman's arm away and shoving him into the counter, pinning him there, "I think it does."

"I had it under control," Charlie argued as he took the gun from Kylie so she could completely subdue Foreman.

"Yeah," Kylie laughed as Charlie handed her a zip tie, "That's why you told him not to shoot you."

"Well, I can tell you one thing," Charlie said with a smile.

Kylie looked over at him in confusion.

He leaned forward a large smile on his face, "You most definitely would not be lacking in the orgasm department if you were in my bed."

Kylie glowered at him, as he walked out to get backup, smiling to himself as he clapped Sherlock on the shoulder.

"I will castrate you one day, Charlie!" Kylie yelled over at him as she held Foreman until backup arrived.

**Short one! Sorry, wrote it between seminars!**

**Make my conference more enjoyable and review?**


	11. Chapter 11

**I seriously adore you all! Thanks so much for the amazing feedback and encouragement I have gotten from you guys! I know I have been slacking on chapters lately and I apologize. My work sched has been insane lately!**

**Here's the next chapter! Enjoy you guys! Its not my best chapter, but I still hope you like it!**

"Come on Foreman! Its just us now. The scary hot lady went away," Charlie said as he sat down across from a cuffed Foreman in the interrogation room, purposely sending a grin to the reflective observation window, knowing who was on the other side.

Kylie sighed deeply in annoyance with her partner's antics. She saved his ass and now all she was going to get in return was a bunch of flack from him.

"You just get off on killing hookers, don't you?" Charlie asked, continuing with the investigation.

Foreman laughed lightly in his seat, "You don't get it, do you mate?"

"Get what?" Charlie asked casually as he threw his feet onto the interrogation table.

Foreman shifted uncomfortably as he stared at Charlie's feet in disgust, trying not to let it show.

"Those stupid whores have nothing. They are pieces of filth who don't belong on this planet…. Spreading their filth around. I treat those sluts all day, the last thing I want to do is see them more."

"So you slit their throats at night?" Charlie asked, "Because they don't belong on this earth?"

"NO!" Foreman said in frustration, "You spill their blood, their disease gets everywhere. Hepatitis, AIDs, HIV, and God only knows what else. Why on earth would I try to unleash their filth on this world?"

"Because you are a psychopath?" Charlie asked.

Foreman looked at him before he leaned forward on the table, lowering his voice immediately, "According to the medical association, a psychopath is characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for the feelings of others and often the rules of society. Psychopaths have a lack of empathy and remorse and have very shallow emotions. They also are generally regarded as callous, selfish, dishonest, arrogant, aggressive, impulsive, irresponsible, and hedonistic. Despite this, psychopaths are often superficially charming and are highly adept at manipulation… Do you think I have any of those qualities there mate?"

"Yeah," Charlie said bluntly, "I do. Want to know why? Because if you weren't a psychopath killing these women, why are you stuck working a crotch rot clinic that you obviously hate?"

Foreman glared at him, "Its where the good money is."

Charlie raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "At a free walk in clinic?"

"That's where I have access," Foreman said firmly, gaining confidence.

Charlie narrowed his eyes. He wasn't following.

"To what?" 

Foreman smirked, "You go to where you have easy access to product. Though, they aren't too difficult."

"Damn," Sherlock muttered under his breath.

"What?" John asked, lost by how this conversation was revealing at all.

"He isn't our guy," Kylie sighed, realizing what Sherlock had caught, knocking on the observation window.

Lestrade gaped, "How is he not our guy?"

"The clinic is where he has access to his product," Sherlock said as he hit the doorframe lightly in frustration.

Charlie walked out the door with his hands up, "What the hell? I almost broke him."

"He's not the guy," Kylie told him firmly.

"Did you hear the guy talk? He's a nut job!"

"It's the PRODUCT!" Sherlock said in frustration as he slowly began to pace, his hands folded in front of him in thought.

John, Lestrade, and Charlie all gave him a blank look.

"He's a pimp," Kylie clarified, "He gets most of his girls from the clinic. That's why he called them product."

"Okay, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he isn't the killer," Lestrade argued.

"Of course it does, George!" Sherlock said animatedly.

Lestrade glowered.

"Greg, Sherlock," Kylie condoned him, "His name is Greg."

"He doesn't know your name?" Charlie asked.

"He at least knows the first letter. That's a small improvement," Lestrade muttered bitterly.

"That's cold man," Charlie told Sherlock.

"Can we get back to the case?" Kylie asked, "Or find something else to hold him on? Otherwise we have to let him go." 

"Whoa, whoa!" Charlie said, holding up his hands, "I'm still not convinced that he's not our guy."

"How?" Kylie asked, crossing her arms defensively, "He's a pimp. What kind of pimp murders his girls?"

"Uhh… one who knows that it will straighten out his other girls. One who has total control over them and can get them to get HC tattooed on their wrists?"

"No," Kylie dismissed immediately, "The other girls would have found a way out. They aren't stupid, they would have caught on."

"Kylie, this guy is PERFECT!"

"No he isn't, Charlie. You are leaping to conclusions!"

"How am I…?"

"SHUT UP!" Sherlock yelled, having more than enough with the bickering, "Seriously Kyleigha, you left London to work with this imbecile?"

"Imbecile?" Charlie gaped in offence.

Sherlock rounded on him, with that certain steeliness in his eyes that told Kylie this was not going to end well.

"Yes. You obviously don't have the intellect of a toad."

"Really man?"

Sherlock groaned loudly, running a hand over his face before his eyes locked onto him with a steely gaze, "You rely on charming your way through life, going through women left and right, not caring about any of them. Kylie is most likely the longest relationship you have had, and that is because, somehow, she finds you to be a good partner. But unlike any of the bimbos you have met, she is bright enough not to set foot into any sort of romantic involvement with you. You can't find yourself, you try to find yourself in women. You don't have the confidence to look at yourself. Your cocky, flirtatious nature is an act, a cover…. Let me guess, your parents didn't love you enough?"

"Sherlock," John said sharply, trying to get his friend to stop.

"You were an only child born into a wealthy family. Your mother died at a young age and you were left with just your father. Except, he hadn't wanted a child."

"Sherlock…"

"So, he shipped you off to any and every boarding school to get you out of his life as quickly as he could. You acted up in school. Tried to get out, but he kept getting rid of you when all you wanted was his attention, for him to be proud…."

Sherlock stopped talking as Kylie's hand, gently touched his arm. He turned to look at her.

"Sherlock, stop," she told him softly.

He just stared at her. There was hurt in her eyes; hurt for her partner. He felt his body relax as guilt slightly filled him.

_He had made her sad…_

_Don't be absurd… _

_You don't care…_

Sherlock then looked over at Charlie, who was now pale, looking at the ground with his arms folded.

"I… apologize," Sherlock said quietly, unsure of his words, "I shouldn't have said that. Forgive me."

John and Lestrade looked up at Sherlock in blatant shock as Charlie just looked at him strangely.

Sherlock then walked out of the room, leaving in an awkward, tense silence.

Kylie sighed and looked over at Charlie in apology before following Sherlock out.

"I'm sorry," John said in shock, "Did Sherlock just….apologize?"

Lestrade looked at John, shock still written all over his face.

"I don't think he's EVER apologized for doing one of his readings," Lestrade gaped.

"I consider myself lucky then," Charlie muttered before walking out.

John and Lestrade looked at each other.

"Is it just me, or do you think…" Lestrade began.

"Sherlock is becoming more…"

"Human?"

"Well, I was going to say emotional, but close enough."

Kylie popped her head back into the room, "We have another victim, and coroner said she was killed in the last three hours."

"But Foreman's been with us the whole time," John said.

"Exactly," Kylie said with dark look, "He's not the killer, that bastard is still out there."

**&amp;* &amp;#(* () #**

The group arrived at the scene finding a few rookie officers, and even a few distinguished homicide detectives vomiting in the bushes out front. A few others rushed passed, green in the face.

"Yeah, that's never a good sign," Charlie muttered as they approached the door, only to be greeted by Hernandez walking out of the small beach house, slightly green in the face as well.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Hernandez said as he wiped the cold sweat off of his face, "Is this the son of a bitch you have been tracking down?"

"You tell me," Charlie said, "We haven't seen the scene yet."

"All that I know, is whoever killed that poor girl… aint human." Hernandez said darkly.

Kylie glanced over at Sherlock, seeing his jaw set before he walked into the house. Kylie took a breath, trying to mentally prepare herself for what could be ahead before she and the others followed him.

The smell of blood hit her nostrils. It was so prevalent that it filled the air, much more so than at any other scene she had been on. She slowly walked down the hallway, each step filled with dread as the smell got stronger and stronger. She saw Sherlock at the end of the hall, stopped in his tracks. It wasn't until she reached him that she understood why.

Kylie felt her stomach churn at the sight of the scene. She had seen a lot of disturbing deaths, murders, and killings in her time, but nothing she had ever seen could quite compare to this slaughter.

A woman lay naked in her bed; drenched in her own blood. Her throat had been cut all the way down to her spinal cord. Her shoulders lay flat on the bed as her legs were splayed open. Just like every other Ripper victim, the woman was cut open from pelvis to sternum, with one exception: all of the viscera had been emptied and placed around the room. Her breasts had been removed; one bloodied one had been placed between her feet along with her liver while the other was peaking out from underneath her blood soaked body with two other organs she couldn't quite see well enough to identify.

The poor woman's face was the worst part. It didn't even look like a face anymore. It had been hacked in every which direction. Her nose, cheeks, eyebrows, and ears were so cut up that they were nearly removed. Her eyes stared lifelessly at the ceiling, revealing the last terror she had felt before the killer took her life.

Kylie's eyes scanned the room, as she was rooted to the spot in horror as something caught her eye. Large flats of skin lay on the dresser.

… _the man had skinned her…._

"Dear God," she heard John breathe next to her.

Kylie couldn't respond though. The horror of the sight was making it hard to breathe and impossible to think or move. She just kept staring at the body.

Soft latex hit her arm, as she was brought out of her trance. She looked to see Sherlock handing her gloves with a certain softness in his eyes. She took them with a small sad smile.

… _the terror in front of them was affecting him too. _

Kylie accepted them, putting them on as she took a step towards the body, not really even knowing where to start.

"These injuries…." Sherlock began, his voice slightly breathless.

Kylie nodded, knowing exactly what he was referring to, "Its exactly the same injuries as the Ripper's final victim in White Chapel. He even positioned her the same."

"One breast between the feet, paired with the liver, meaning…" Sherlock began as he carefully lifted the victim's head, "He placed the other breast under the head."

"Along with her kidney's and uterus…. Just like the Ripper," Kylie said quietly.

She slowly approached the body, gently moving the mass of the woman's intestines so she could see under them.

"The spleen is in with the intestines."

"On the victim's left sided," Sherlock noted gravely.

"Is that…?" Lestrade asked in horror as he pointed to a table near the closet.

Both Kylie and Sherlock turned to look. A mass of skin and muscle had been laid out neatly on the table.

"I'm not an expert," Kylie said as she walked over to inspect it closer, "But my guess would be that this is the skin and soft tissue that had been removed from her abdomen and thighs."

She turned to see the rest of the group other than Sherlock staring at her in blank horror.

"So, what you are saying, is that this guy copied the Ripper exactly on this one?" Charlie asked, "Not varying at all?"

"It would seem so," Sherlock said much more bluntly as he kept looking at the skin.

"His last murder was by far the most violent," Kylie told them darkly, "The rage that made him differ didn't effect how he killed this poor woman because the way that the Ripper did it was already so violent."

"We got what we this is an ID on the victim," Hernandez said as he walked through the group, "At least what we think is an ID, we'll need you to do a match Doc… knowing we cant really use her face, as she doesn't quite have one anymore…"

"What's the name?" Charlie asked.

"Well the house belongs to a Mary Jane Kelly, so we assume its her."

Kylie and Sherlock's head snapped up so quickly that John was shocked that they didn't snap off in the process.

"What?" Kylie gaped in horror, "That cant be right… it just cant."

"Why?" Charlie asked, looking up at Kylie with a frown, "You know her or something?"

Kylie shook her head as she turned and looked over at the woman's lifeless blue eyes.

"No, Mary Jane Kelly was the name of the Ripper's last true victim… the one who's injuries the killer copied to kill this woman."

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	12. Chapter 12

**So… wow… I haven't posted in a bit…. Sorry guys. Time and life got away from me apparently. **

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**Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

"So this killer tracked down his victim and killed the poor girl based on her name?" John asked with a mixture of disbelief as they walked back into the conference room of the FBI.

"Apparently," Kylie said bitterly, still slightly upset by the horror they had seen at the scene, "We still don't know what she did for a living. That could still be a factor," she said as she set her bag down on the table, pulling forward a laptop as she began researching their latest victim.

"So, let me get this straight," Charlie said as he sat down in his usual chair, "All that we know so far is that this guy hates hookers, wants to kill hookers, but because he is so obsessed with Jack the Ripper, he kills them exactly how the real Ripper did, but due to the fact that he hates them, he kills them slightly more violently?"

"Good, you actually listen," Sherlock said with a straight face as he folded his hands in front of him, leaning back in the chair he sat in next to Kylie.

Kylie shot him a look as if condoning him.

"Except for this last one it seems," John added in, "Because its not like that murder had enough rage involved in it."

"The first victim though, she wasn't a prostitute," Charlie pointed out, "She was a model."

"With a history of prostitution," Kylie pointed out, "She had an arrest."

"True," Charlie shrugged, "This guy may not be trying to split hairs."

The computer beeped, causing Kylie to look at the screen with confusion.

"What?" Lestrade asked as Sherlock looked over at her screen, a similar expression covering his face.

"She was a model," Kylie said slowly, obviously perplexed by this finding, "No prior history of arrest and no suspicion of prostitution. This cant be right. I'll run it again. There has to be a history. He only kills prostitutes."

"Or she never got caught," Sherlock suggested.

"Yes, but VICE does a good job of tracking girls in the business. If she was, she would most definitely have a red flag on her somewhere."

"What agency was she with?" Charlie asked as he pulled a laptop towards him.

"Uh, Becker modeling agency," Kylie told him before she ran it again.

"The victim we found last week was with the same agency," Charlie said as he looked up at her.

"So now we have a connection between a modeling agency and hookers?" John asked as Sherlock sat back in his chair.

"Well one in the same nowadays, isn't it?" Lestrade said with a shrug as he took a sip of his coffee.

Everyone, including Sherlock turned to look at him.

Lestrade shrugged again, "Before I went to Homicide, I worked in VICE for three years. Almost all of the high-class prostitutes that we arrested worked for modeling agencies. They take pictures and some make thousands on the side by sleeping with rich men for money."

The room went silent for a few moments before Kylie spoke up.

"So do the agencies provide the service? Or are these girls just freelancing?"

"Usually it was ran under the book in the agencies," Lestrade told her.

"Wait, we already linked these killings to the Doctors Within City Limits. We figured it was between two of the doctors. Foreman has an airtight alibi, so it has to be this Hillsdale bloke!" John exclaimed suddenly remembering the fact that they had another suspect.

Kylie perked up; she had completely forgotten about that.

"Its not him," Charlie said gravely.

"What?" Kylie said, "John is right. We've completely forgotten we've had another suspect all along!"

"We didn't. You and John may have, but I am guessing that Hillsdale has an airtight alibi as well," Sherlock drolled as he looked over at Charlie.

Kylie looked over at Charlie in confusion.

"You put a tail on Hillsdale?" Lestrade asked.

"Yeah. As soon as we figured it was one of those two I put a tail on Hillsdale once we figured we were perusing Foreman," Charlie told them.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kylie gaped.

"Because this guy is after you!" Charlie told her, "I just wanted to be sure I wasn't going to call you tomorrow and find you were this psychopath's latest victim."

Kylie groaned and rolled her eyes, "When will all of you realize that I DON'T need protecting?! I'm a big girl! I can take care of myself…" She trailed off as she tried to get her temper under control, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"So where does this leave us?" John asked, trying to change the subject, "With no suspects whatsoever?"

"Pretty much," Kylie said angrily as she crossed her arms, still trying to get over her fury with her partner going behind her back.

"Why would he kill everyday prostitutes in London, and then only kill high class ones through a modeling agency in San Diego?" Charlie asked, looking up from a file, trying to ignore his partner that was angry with him.

"Well did it matter to him?" Lestrade asked as he turned to look at the wall where they had posted pictures of the victims, "They all are prostitutes and all look like Kylie. That was a bit of his only qualification, isn't it?"

Kylie stiffened before looking over at the photos, an idea hitting her.

"They all look like me…" Kylie muttered under her breath.

"Makes you wonder if the agency was the one who made them dye their hair, or if it was the Ripper," Lestrade continued.

"Yeah," Kylie said as she got up, walking over to the wall, "Our killer is connected somehow to this agency… either a client, or a part of the agency, or a photographer… who knows. We just need to find that connection."

"Yeah, well how do we do that without drawing attention?" Charlie asked, thankful his partner was now refocused on the case, "If we go in there guns a blazing, we'll tip off the killer."

"That's why we don't go in guns a blazing," Kylie said simply as she turned around with a smile.

Charlie frowned as Sherlock's head snapped towards her.

"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked, hoping his partner wasn't leaping to the conclusion he was thinking she was.

"I go in there," she said simply.

"No," Sherlock said shortly.

Kylie looked at him, choosing to ignore his opinion as she turned back to the rest of the group.

"With two dead, the agency is going to need a few new models, aren't they?"

"Kylie…" Charlie began to argue before she rounded on him.

"Charlie, I swear to God, if you tell me not to do this, I will beat the shit out of you. I am a trained Federal Agent. This is my job. Its my job to get this bastard off the street and to make sure he doesn't kill again. If that means I have to pose as a model, than so be it. But I sure as hell don't think you are going to get into the agency in heels and dress!"

Charlie made a noise to try to argue once more, but Kylie snapped at him before he could get anything out.

"No. End of discussion. We'll do it tomorrow. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to take Toby for a run. Goodnight."

And with that, Kylie grabbed her bag off the table and walked out of the conference room without a sound from the other four men in the room.

Sherlock was silent as he just stared after her.

John turned to Charlie after a moment or two, "What do we do? We cant just let her walk into that?"

Charlie sighed and pulled out his phone, dreading that this was the last resort at the moment.

"Call one of the only people who can talk some sense into her. Though, he will probably kill me for not telling him sooner," he said as he scrolled through his phone looking for a number, "And then she'll kill me for calling him, so it doesn't matter. I'm dead either way," he told John as he pressed the phone to his ear.

**(*# ()*#) (#) **

Kylie ran down the darkened beach near her house. Toby happily by her side as she pressed harder, trying to get the thoughts that were flooding her head to stop.

She couldn't get the night before out of her head. She had barely slept, the memory of Sherlock pushing her against the wall, kissing her like she had never been kissed before, his hands all over her….

A shiver ran down her body at the pleasurable memory. Lust and desire filled her body.

_God! Get a grip Kylie!_

Part of her wanted to keep that memory forever. Another part of her wanted to throw him up against a wall, and the other part of her mind nagged her to remember that none of it had been real.

_Acting… pretending… a cover.. that's all that was. _

Was it though?

That couldn't have been acting… all that feeling? Emotion? Desire? He had to have felt it too.. there was no way he couldn't have.

But, this was Sherlock Holmes she was dealing with. The same man who had faked an entire relationship with another person purely for a case. He was a good actor. He had fooled Janine. Even when they had been together, Kylie had a tough time reading the man. He was brilliant. He could box up any and all emotion he had and hide them away from everyone around him. They had been in love one minute and the next he had ignored her completely. Only he could turn around like that at the drop of a hat. So this led her back to her original question… had she felt what he was really feeling? Or had it been an act? 

Kylie rolled her eyes at herself. She could think this question to death and she still wouldn't have an answer. She needed to stop this. Deep down she knew she was still head over heels in love with the man, but she was getting over him. She was moving on. She didn't need to go down this road again. She just needed to finish this case and have him go back to London so she could get over the man once more.

He didn't want her. He didn't want a relationship. She had destroyed any and all chances she had with him. She had to accept that.

Kylie slowed as she approached her house, feeling slightly more calm about the situation at hand having run off a bit of the sexual frustration she had pent up inside after that kiss. She glanced down at her watch, noting she had taken three minutes off her best time in that loop.

_God, this sexual tension was killing her…_

She walked up the path to her home, unlocking the door and removing Toby's lead before he ran into the house, barking happily as he wagged his tail.

Kylie smiled and removed her shirt as she locked the door behind her, shaking her head at the silly creature. She flicked on the lights and turned around, jumping about a foot in the air as she saw someone sitting on the couch where Toby lay, currently upside down as the intruder rubbed his belly.

"Jesus Sherlock," Kylie said sighing in relief as she tossed her keys in the bowl by the door, "You scared me."

He was staring at her, his eyes gazing up and down her body. She suddenly felt naked and vulnerable. She was standing there in just her sports bra and running shorts, holding her shirt in her hand as his gaze was locked onto her. She raised her hand and shirt up to cover her large ugly scar as she stood there nervously. She wasn't uncomfortable, she just didn't want him to be appalled by her.

He slowly got up, walking over to her until he was only about a foot away; his eyes never leaving her. Her breath caught in her throat as she fought to remember how to breathe. She struggled as she saw something on his face that she couldn't quite place.

She watched as he reached out and brushed a lock of her hair that had fallen out of her now shorter ponytail.

"You cant do this, Kylie," he whispered as she took a small step towards him, his fingertips lingering on her face.

"I have to," she whispered back, unable to speak louder than that out of fear that her voice would crack, "We have to stop him."

_God he was so close…_

"Not at this cost," Sherlock replied breathlessly as Kylie swore he was beginning to lean in.

Her eyes fluttered shut as her heart began pounding….

"Am I interrupting something?" a smooth female voice said, causing both Sherlock and Kylie to spring apart in shock.

Kylie gaped, staring in disbelief at Irene Adler leaning against the hall entryway wearing a skin tight dress and a smirk on her face.

"What in the hell are you doing in my house?" Kylie said as she hurriedly put back on her shirt.

"I came in with Sherlock," she said simply.

Toby picked up immediately on Kylie's anger and sat, growling at Irene as if waiting for Kylie's command.

Kylie turned and glared over at Sherlock, who walked back over to the couch, unnerved by the dominatrix's sudden appearance.

_Son of a bitch had brought her here…_

"She has information," Sherlock shrugged as he began petting Toby once more, trying to calm the growling dog.

"On what? How to ruin relationships?" Kylie asked bitterly.

"Oh, I believe that one was all on you, love," Irene replied with a smile.

Anger surged through Kylie's veins.

"I have information about the Ripper Copy-cat," Irene told her.

Kylie stared at her for a moment in confusion before looking over at Sherlock.

"Is she serious?"

"Deadly, I have been assured," Sherlock told her.

"What do you know, and why should I trust you?" Kylie said, crossing her arms defensively.

Irene's natural smile faded off her face as she looked down for a moment, a more somber, apologetic expression took over her face, causing Kylie to frown in confusion.

"I have been working for the wrong people."

Kylie stared at her, taken aback. She had a good read on people, and this seemed sincere… suspicious, yet sincere.

"She was working for Thomas," Sherlock interjected.

"Yeah, no shit," Kylie snapped, still not buying it.

Irene gave her a hard look, "Thomas was helping the copy cat. I got him information, information he was feeding the killer."

"You willingly helped to kill those women?" Kylie scoffed, "You really are a soulless bitch."

"I didn't know!" Irene said in a tone that was very unlike her.

Kylie stared up at her in shock, freezing as she saw the Woman's eyes shining with tears.

Kylie immediately shut her mouth.

"I didn't know that he was using the information to pick his victims."

"You were the one who found him the victims?" Kylie asked, "You knew them."

"I knew of them. I only knew one personally."

Kylie softened towards her as she saw the notable pain on the woman's face.

"Do you know who the killer is?"

"No," Irene said as she shook her head, "All I know is that it's a man that introduces him self as a Doctor." She paused for a moment, "Did you find Mary Jane?" she asked in a quieter voice.

Kylie bit her lip and nodded gravely.

"I thought so," Irene said looking down, "Harringer said he couldn't reach her last night."

"Harringer?"

"The head of Becker Modeling," Irene informed her, "Mary Jane worked for him."

"Wait… you know the head of Becker Modeling?" Kylie asked.

_This was too perfect. _

"I know what he likes."

Kylie paused, watching Irene trying to keep it together for a moment.

"Mary Jane was your friend," Kylie said sympathetically as she felt for the woman.

Irene nodded slightly.

"I'm so sorry," Kylie said softly.

Sherlock sighed loudly, "The killer…?" he pressed as both women turned to glare at him.

"Did Thomas tell you anything about him? About his plan at all?" Kylie asked gently.

"Just that he wanted to help an old friend."

"An old friend of Thomas?" Kylie asked looking at Sherlock.

"That means you know him," Sherlock pointed out.

Kylie gave him another look, "Moriarty was also a friend of Thomas's but I didn't know him."

"You knew of him," Sherlock pointed out.

Kylie sighed and rolled her eyes at the man before turning back to Irene.

"Look, Irene can you get me into the modeling agency? I need to get in undercover so maybe we can catch this bastard before he starts killing again."

Irene looked up at Kylie, looking her up and down slightly before nodding, "Of course. Heaven knows you have the body and face for it."

Kylie raised an eyebrow at her, smiling slightly, "I'm sorry, did you just hit on me?"

A smile spread across Irene's face once more.

"You're not doing it," Sherlock said as he stood up.

"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?" Kylie asked as she turned to face him.

"Its too dangerous, Kyleigha."

"What do you care, Sherlock?"

Sherlock stopped. He just stared at her for a moment before storming off into the kitchen and began furiously making tea in Kylie's kitchen. Kylie raised her eyebrows as she heard soft cursing, as he couldn't find anything before cabinets slammed.

"He really does care about you, you know?" Irene said quietly, bringing Kylie's attention back to the room.

She just looked at the Woman, causing her to smile at her softly.

"I practically jumped him and he didn't even respond. His mind was only on you."

Kylie dropped her gaze as her thoughts went back to the kiss.

_Did he really still care?_

"I owe you an apology," Irene said once more, looking down and away from Kylie as she did.

"What for?" Kylie asked, running through the long list of things she believed Irene should apologize for.

"I had no idea what Thomas did to you…"

Kylie laughed slightly before shaking her head, "What did he tell you? That I broke his heart, cried rape, and ran away?"

Irene smiled slightly at her, "Something like that."

Kylie nodded as she clenched her jaw, trying not to let Thomas's lies get to her.

There was a small pause, "I'm not proud of what I did, but I did it to survive. I loved Mary Jane. She was like a sister to me… and now she's gone."

Kylie looked at the broken women beside her as she sat down on the couch and laid a hand on hers, "Lets go get that son of a bitch then."

Irene smiled at her softly as tears adorned her face.

"Oh God…" Sherlock said from behind them. Both women turned to look, finding him holding two mugs of tea, with a confused and disgusted look on his face.

A smiled of amusement covered Kylie's face as she tried not to laugh at him before he handed each of the women a cup of tea, before storming back into the kitchen to make his own.

Both women looked after him in slight bewilderment before Irene turned to Kylie.

"You've even gotten the great Sherlock Holmes to become domestic. That's impressive."

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	13. Chapter 13

**A Massive thanks to all of my amazing reviewers! Your reviews never fail to make my day a little brighter! So, sincerely, thank you for that!**

**I apologize for this strange formatting and flip-flopping of perspectives in this chapter. I wanted to make it work and wrote it about four different ways before settling on a similar way that I had done it before. The other ways either made it confusing, or broke it up WAY too much, so this is the best I could do. **

**Hope it makes sense and you guys still enjoy it!**

"So let me get this straight," John asked the next morning in Kylie's home, "Irene just showed up and now her and Kylie, are… friends?"

"It would seem so," Sherlock said as he drummed his fingers on the couch impatiently.

The group of men were sitting in Kylie's living room with an over-excited and playful Toby as Kylie got ready. The plan was to infiltrate the modeling agency as an undercover model. Though it was against the will of everyone else in the room, Kylie was dead set on it.

"This is stupid," Lestrade muttered as he tossed the ball for Toby once more, "The killer is literally hunting Kylie, leaves messages about her in blood, and now she is going to just walk right into the agency where the killer finds his victims?"

"Well, you know Kylie," Charlie sighed as he leaned back in her chair, "Once her mind is made up, no one, and I mean NO ONE can ever change it."

"Or, because its actually my job to find killers and I look better in a dress than you do," Kylie said as she walked out of the room.

Sherlock looked up and froze as he stared at the woman who was presented in front of him. Kylie really didn't look all that different, but somehow the tight high-waisted skirt she had paired with a tank top and blazer complimented her stunning figure. Her hair had been curled slightly so it now only brushed her shoulders before it was pinned back on one side. She barely had on any makeup, showing and highlighting her natural beauty for what it was.

"Look at you," Charlie said with a grin as he looked her up and down approvingly.

"You look like a real model," John commented, giving her a smile.

"Thank you," Kylie said as she shifted uncomfortably in the tight skirt.

"Its not like it was that difficult to make you look gorgeous," Irene said as she waltzed in behind Kylie, looking at her work proudly.

"Are you hitting on me again?" Kylie asked with a smile.

Irene smiled at her before looking her up and down, "If I didn't know better, I would try to find out what you liked."

Kylie and Irene stared at each other for a moment before laughing and making their way out of the house and towards the car.

The men in the room stared in a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Last week, Kylie wanted to rip her throat out, and now she's giving her makeovers?" John asked.

"I don't get women," Lestrade said as he walked out, following the pair of women out.

John sighed and got up, making to walk out the door, seeing that they were missing one member.

"Sherlock?" John asked, looking at his flat mate who was still absent-mindedly staring towards the hall entrance, "You coming?"

Sherlock's head whipped around, looking at John in surprise as he just noticed that everyone else had left.

John grinned, knowing exactly where his friend's mind had been at.

"Kylie looked good, didn't she?"

"Shut up," Sherlock snapped as he quickly got up and walked out, leaving a chuckling John behind.

**&amp;^# *&amp;#( ***

"Okay Ky," Charlie's voice said over the earpiece that Kylie was wearing, "We're right outside of you need us. If you get into trouble, the distress signal is that you are getting a call from your Uncle Charlie."

"That's not your average safe word," Irene commented as she walked beside Kylie as they entered the agency, walking towards the main desk.

"Its better than his usual," Kylie told her quietly, "Its usually banana. It's getting better."

Irene tried not to smile in laughter as they approached the desk.

The young woman at the front desk turned towards them. Her eyes locked onto Kylie, looking her up and down with judgement before a fake smile covered her face.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, my name is Anna Wiley. I have an audition today."

"Yeah, we don't have any positions right now."

Kylie frowned at her slightly before Irene took a step forward, "Hello Jeanette," she purred, "Miss Wiley is here to see Mr. Harringer… privately."

"Oh! Miss Adler," the girl said slightly taken aback, "I apologize, I didn't see you there."

"Harringer…?"

"Oh, yes," Jeanette said as she picked up the phone and dialed.

Kylie fought a smirk as she felt her phone vibrate in her clutch. She quickly pulled it out to glance at the caller ID before rolling her eyes and shoving it quickly back into her bag.

"Someone you don't want to hear from?" Irene asked looking at her with curiosity.

"No," Kylie said sighing, "Its my Dad. That's like the 15th time he's called me."

"He worried about you?"

"No, I think someone told him what was going on," Kylie said through gritted teeth as she tried to keep a polite smile on her face.

In the van outside, John reached over and pressed the mute button on the microphone before looking at Charlie.

"You are a dead man."

"Hopefully not," Charlie said as he rolled his eyes.

As if God had a sense of humor, Charlie's phone rang, the name JETHRO GIBBS flashing across the screen. All color faded from Charlie's face as Kylie's father took this moment in time to return Charlie's phone call.

"You better answer it, mate," Lestrade told him, "You were the one who called him to begin with."

Charlie looked down at the phone hesitating for a moment before he picked it up.

"Hello?" he gulped nervously.

"Charlie," Gibbs said in a dangerously quiet voice, "Why in the hell is my daughter not picking up the phone?"

"She's um… unavailable at the moment. She's working."

"It wouldn't be on an op, now would it?"

"Um…"

"Charlie, are you telling me that you sent my daughter into an undercover operation going after a killer that in after her, after you called me to help you prevent it? And you still sent her in as bait?"

"I didn't send her, she just… went. Everyone else including myself are in high disagreeance with this, but when Kylie decides to do something…"

"What do you mean everyone?" Gibbs asked.

"Uh, Scotland Yard is assisting with this case," Charlie said frowning as he wondered why that detail was important.

"So the Doctor and Sherlock are there too?"

Charlie gave Sherlock and John a strange look before answering.

"Yes."

Charlie heard Gibbs sigh on the other end of the line.

"Help them keep her safe." Gibbs said gruffly before hanging up the phone.

Charlie frowned and pulled his phone back, looking at it in slight surprise at what had just occurred.

"Kylie's father, I'm assuming?" Lestrade inquired as the rest of the group stared at the small screen as they watched Irene and Kylie make their way down the hall.

Charlie didn't answer. He just stared at his phone before putting it down silently on the table.

"That bad?" Lestrade asked with a smile.

"You haven't met Kylie's father," John piped in, "If there was a human definition of intimidation, it would be that man."

Sherlock scoffed as he kept looking at the screen.

Charlie turned and looked at Sherlock, "Speak for yourself. He can call you then."

**#&amp;* *#( **

Kylie felt her stomach turn uncomfortably as she walked next to Irene. They approached a large mahogany door.

"Stand up straight, will you?" Irene said as they paused in front of the door, "You look as if you are holing up in yourself."

Kylie gave her a strange look before standing up straight and knocking on the door.

It only took a moment before a good-looking man in about his mid-forties dressed in an expensive Italian suit opened it.

"Miss Adler," he said in a charming voice as he gently reached out and took her hand, kissing it, "it is always a pleasure to see you my dear."

"A pleasure as well," Irene purred back at him.

The man then turned his attention to Kylie, "My, my…" he said as he looked Kylie up and down with his steely grey eyes as he shoved his hands into his pants pocket, "You are stunning, aren't you?"

"Anna Wiley," Kylie said as she extended her hand, trying to play off confidence as her insides squirmed under his stare.

_God she hated this…_

The man smiled at her as he took her hand, "Robert Harringer," he said as he brought up her hand up to his lips, "A beautiful and confident woman. My favorite type."

Kylie tried to smile at him as she fought the urge to pull her hand away.

Harringer lingered as he kept staring at her before Irene cleared her throat lightly.

"How rude of me," Harringer said as he dropped her hand, "Please, come in."

Kylie and Irene entered the elegant office. It was large and furnished in shiny well-polished mahogany with a large ocean view.

"Can I get you a refreshment?" Harringer asked.

"No thank you," Kylie said as she felt herself instantly pulled towards the amazing view.

The entire wall was made of glass; overlooking a large balcony. The ocean looked calm as small waves crashed on the beach.

She didn't know what it was about the ocean, but there was something about it that calmed her instantly.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Harringer said as he walked up behind Kylie.

"Yeah," Kylie muttered as she felt the man's eyes boring through her once more.

A moment longer passed before Harringer retreated back to his desk.

"So, Miss Wiley, Miss Adler here tells me you are interested in modeling with Becker Modeling agency."

"Yes sir," Kylie said as she walked over and sat in a chair across the desk from Harringer and next to Irene.

"Hmm," Harringer said as he leaned back in his chair, staring at her once more. "Do you have any experience?"

Kylie felt her mind go blank instantly as dread filled her. She hadn't thought this through. She was supposed to have photos, runway video, a resume… and she had just shown up.

"She just returned from three years in London," Irene filled in for her quickly.

"London?" Harringer asked with a smile, "I just came over from London about two months ago."

"He could be our guy!" Lestrade piped up in the van down the street, "He's British, fits the time line, and God knows he's slimy enough."

"That's the guy you heard?" Charlie asked him, his eyes lighting up.

"Its not him," Sherlock told them.

Charlie turned towards him, his patience wearing thin with the dark-haired detective.

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Because we are looking for someone with medical experience, true medical experience. A man who runs a modeling agency will not have access to ketamine. Or has your low intellect put you into a coma?"

John sighed and dropped his head at his friend's harsh nature.

"What if Irene Adler gave it to him?" John asked as he looked back up again, "She obviously knows him and she dosed you in the exact same place…"

"She's. Not. In. On. It." Sherlock said as he turned to his flatmate, giving him a glare.

"She told you she was and she's screwed you over before," John pointed out, "She help track down the killer's victims."

"She's not," Sherlock glared as he turned back to the video feed.

John stared at his friend, "We are all trying to find the killer here, Sherlock. Just because you have a thing for the two women in there doesn't mean you have to take our heads off every two moments."

"I don't have a _thing_," Sherlock retorted; disgust evident in his voice.

"Yes you do," all three of the other men replied at the same time.

"What agency were you with before?" Harringer asked Kylie back in the elegant office.

"I was free lance," Kylie told him with an uncomfortable smile.

Harringer raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well," he smiled, "Up you go. Lets see you walk then."

Kylie stood with some hesitance, cursing the height of the heels Irene had made her wear. She made to walk before Harringer stopped her.

"Jacket off. I want to see that body of yours."

Kylie shut her eyes as disgust filled her before she turned around and removed her jacket with a smile, trying not to allow herself to fidget in her clothes… or punch Harringer in the face…

"Just there and back now," he told her as he leaned back in the chair and watched her with a smile.

Kylie turned and walked, trying to remember what Irene had been teaching her all morning. She turned and walked back.

"Stop there," Harringer told her, having her stop short of returning, "Turn all the way around for me."

Kylie slowly spun in a circle as Harringer's eyes raked up and down her body.

"Well my dear, you certainly are beautiful. A bit too muscular, but beautiful."

Kylie tried not to frown at the comment.

_A bit muscular? Im fit, not a female body builder._

"You work out?"

"I run twice a day."

"Did you eat today?"

"Uh, yes. I always eat."

"Yeah, stop that," Harringer told her as he sat up and pulled out some paperwork, "Either stop eating, or shove your fingers down your throat. You need to lose at least a dress size and your muscle."

Kylie's mouth contorted into anger before Irene's heel pressed into her foot painfully, reminding her to put a smile back on her face.

"Of course," Kylie replied through gritted teeth.

"Good," Harringer said as he filled out some forms, before pausing and looking back up at her, "Are you interested in making some money? Off the record I mean?"

_Now we were getting somewhere…_

"What do you mean?' Kylie asked sitting down.

"Well, a pretty girl like you could make good money men….company," Harringer said.

Kylie smiled at him.

"We got you, you bastard," Charlie muttered.

"I do need some extra money," Kylie said, "Do you have any clients in mind?"

Harringer smiled, "In fact, I do. He likes auburn haired, blue eyed women."

"Well then I'm perfect now, aren't I?" Kylie said smiling.

***&amp;#(* #() )# **

"You are SERIOUSLY not going on a date with a psychopathic serial killer, are you?" Charlie asked as he quickly followed a storming Kylie into the FBI building.

"We have to find the dick, don't we?" Kylie asked, ignoring the strange looks she was getting from her coworkers about her attire.

"Yes, but you don't need to prostitute yourself in the process!" Charlie argued as they walked into Kylie's office, the others following close behind, "Your father would really kill me then."

Kylie stopped at her desk, slowly turning around, glaring at Charlie with fire in her eyes.

"What do you mean, my dad will kill you?" Kylie said, her voice dangerously low, "You wouldn't have told him about this case, would you? Because you know that that would be stupid. You are smart enough to know that I would kick the shit out of you if you were to tell my dad. You see, stuff like this tends to upset him, and I hate it when my father is upset."

"Okay I may have called your father…" Charlie began before Kylie lunged at him only to be stopped by Sherlock's arm wrapping around her as he picked her up and carried her into the conference room as she struggled.

"Put me DOWN!" Kylie said as he gently set her down on the ground. Kyle turned to go back out the door before Sherlock stepped in front of her trapping her against his chest.

"Calm down," Sherlock told her as she struggled.

"He told my Dad, Sherlock," Kylie argued as she still struggled to get out of his grasp as he just held her tighter, "he told my Dad that I have a serial killer after me and now I'm whoring myself to catch him."

"To be fair, this isn't the first time you have had a serial killer after you," Sherlock joked slightly as Kylie stiffened before laughing.

She didn't know why it was funny, but his words made her laugh. She felt her body begin to relax slightly as Sherlock chuckled, rubbing her back as he did. The rumbling in his chest of his deep laugh in combination with his arms around her brought back memories of happiness.

Her laughter died down and she just stayed there, refusing to move out of his embrace as she breathed in that comforting scent.

"You aren't, 'whoring' yourself, as they say," Sherlock told her in a low voice.

Kylie pulled away slightly to look up at him in confusion.

Blue met blue as his eyes softened. They weren't the normal steely, piercing blue, but instead it looked as if he….cared… truly cared about her.

But he didn't.

Did he?

"You never could. You are worth far much more than that," he told her in a whisper as he brushed a strand of hair out of her face "You are extraordinary."

Before Kylie could think, words began flowing out of her mouth.

"What happened to us, Sherlock? I mean we had something wonderful and we let it go."

Sherlock looked at her for a moment before immediately dropping his arms and let her go as if she were contaminated vermin.

Hurt filled Kylie as she watched him walk away from her, sitting at the table and beginning to look at photos without another word.

Kylie swallowed, trying to hide the hurt on her face, yet knowing she was failing miserably.

"Where are you going?" Lestrade asked as she turned and walked out of the room.

"Bathroom," she muttered as she tried not to cry, brushing past him.

Lestrade watched her leave, before sending an inquiring look to Sherlock. The man wasn't even looking at her as she left. It took a second, but he slowly looked up from the file, watching her storm past an inquiring John, frowning slightly as he did.

Lestrade smiled to himself.

_About damn time he began to realize he still cared for her._

**Weird format. I know. **

**Thoughts? feelings?**

**Review?**


	14. Chapter 14

**You guys are the greatest! A Huge thanks to Eirthdeil, fantasyfreak133, dinosauce, padfootfaerie123, JoeyPNg (thanks so much for your kind review and words), Guest (I agree with you. Looking back I should have written more detail. Thanks!), jineshisu, slyork1991, cricket (so sorry to hear that! Hope everything is okay!), bored411, and my other guest! You guys consistently give me such kind and thoughtful words. I am eternally grateful for it and I hope you guys continue to enjoy everything!**

**Here's the next chapter you guys! Its nothing too exciting, but essential. Hopefully it works!**

Kylie shut the door to the bathroom stall as quickly as she could before she allowed the tears that she had been trying to hold back. She sat down and put her head in her hands, letting her emotions flow.

She didn't understand it. She had tried to, but she couldn't comprehend it.

One moment he had been looking at her as if he were going to kiss her, and the next he drops her like a contaminated piece of trash.

She didn't get it. It was constant confusion with him. Thinking they had a chance, then being shoved away again and again- being put through some sort of mental and emotional torture.

…_Now she remembered why she had left London in the first place…_

_Father of Mine, tell me where have you been?_

Kylie rolled her eyes at the ring tone, knowing exactly who it was and pulled out her phone, laughing to herself, as she didn't know whether her father had the worst or best timing.

She hesitated, trying to calm herself before picking up.

"Hey Dad," she said as she put her head in her hands, gripping her hair as she tried to keep her voice even and stem the flow of the tears.

She heard her father pause on the other end of the line, immediately cursing herself as she knew her father had picked up on her tone.

_Play it off Kylie… he called to chew you out…_

"What's wrong Ky?" her father asked her in his gruff voice with concern.

_He had been calling to chew her out. _

Kylie paused for a moment, trying to think of a lie to tell her father.

"Kylie…"

"Nothing, Dad. Its just… its been a long day…" she told him as her voice began to crack even more.

She gripped her hair, hoping the slight pain would give her a better grasp on reality.

She was failing. She knew she was failing. She wanted to scream at herself for letting her emotions leak through on the topic. No matter how hard she tried, she always found it hard to put on a front for her father.

"Kyleigha…"

"I'm so confused, Dad," Kylie said breaking down on the line, "I just… I don't get it."

Her father paused on the other end of the line, hearing his daughter cry.

"Let me guess, Sherlock?"

"I don't get it!" Kylie said as the tears began to flow once more, "One second he's looking at me as if he cares for me, and the next he's shoving me away. Its like he's just messing with me"

Her father remained silent as he listened to his daughter vent about her troubles on the other end of the line.

"I want to get over him. But him being here… I cant! Every time I see him, it just breaks down every defense and wall I have put up. I'm crazy about him and I cant stop it, no matter how hard I try. How can I be in love with someone who pulls me in, only to shove me away once I start to give in?"

"Do you ever think that he might be just as confused with himself as you are?"

Kylie paused, trying to think about her father's point. She knew that Sherlock always struggled to understand emotions that he couldn't hide within himself. Was he just confused? Was he as drawn to her as she was to him? He just didn't want to face it?

"Kylie?"

"Yeah, sorry Dad. I'm still here."

"I'm right, aren't I?" her father asked, a smile in his voice.

Kylie rolled her eyes.

"What do you want me to say? You are always right?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Kylie laughed slightly through her tears as she ran a hand through her hair, suddenly missing her long hair.

"Look, Bug," her father said sighing, "Part of me… a large part of me wants to come down there and rip his head off for making you cry, but the only reason I'm not, is because in my gut, I know he cares about you."

"Your gut, Dad?" Kylie asked, rolling her eyes once more as she felt herself smiling.

"I raised you to trust your gut, Kyleigha. That is why I trust that he cares about you."

"Just your gut? You are basing not coming here and killing a man on your gut? Dad, you made my junior year prom date cry."

"That guy didn't look at you the way I looked at your mother."

Kylie paused. She knew the loss of her mother and sister was a sore spot for her father. Neither of them had really gotten full closer on the ordeal. They rarely spoke about the painful memory. It was an unspoken conversation they had had many times. So the fact that her father was bringing it up, was a slight shock to Kylie.

"I saw it in his eyes."

"We weren't even together when you met him, Dad."

"You both wanted to be. Plus it's a little easier to recognize on someone else."

She felt herself smile a bit more as she pulled out the long chain with her mother's wedding ring, toying with it slightly.

_Was her father right?_

"Well glad your recognition and famous gut have been able to qualm your over-protective nature," Kylie said as she wiped her eyes.

"I will still come down there and knock some sense into him," Gibbs told her.

"I'll be fine Dad," she said smiling, "Thanks though. You know how much I love it when you beat up my ex-boyfriends."

"I'm just thankful you haven't had very many of them."

"That's because you do a good job of chasing them off before they can become a boyfriend, let alone an ex-boyfriend."

Her father chuckled on the other end of the line.

"That means I'm a good father."

"Yeah, something like that."

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line.

"What's all this about you being bait for a psychopath?"

"Oh, look at the time. I gotta go back to work. Good talk Dad. Love you!" Kylie said quickly.

"Kyleigha, don't you DARE…"

Kylie hung up the phone quickly before her father could chew her out about their latest case before she put her head in her hands. She was so confused. She had never wanted to hit, yell, slap, or snog the man There were so many contradictions in her life at the moment. This is why she had left London in the first place. She couldn't do this anymore.

RING RING RING

Her phone rang once more, drawing her attention back to her phone. She wiped her eyes before laughing at the caller ID.

"Mare," Kylie greeted, "How are you?"

"Kylie, please tell me John has told you?" Mary said excitedly.

"Told me what?"

"Well, I'm not supposed to tell you as John wanted to talk to Sherlock first…"

"Let me guess, John proposed?" Kylie guessed.

"Yes! Wait… how did you know?"

"Who do you think helped him pick out that ring?" Kylie smiled over the phone, her happiness for her friend beginning to usurp her prior confusion.

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I was half way across the globe Mare, what'd you want me to do? Make him leave it out and lying around so it wouldn't be a surprise anymore?"

"God, Ky… Married. I'm getting married."

"That is the whole idea behind an engagement," Kylie joked, laughing.

"Well I couldn't wait any longer to tell you. I figured John would have talked to Sherlock by now, but you know how that goes."

_Talk to Sherlock about what?_

Kylie bit her tongue trying her best not to pry.

"I hate to just call and hang up without talking to much, but I had to tell someone. You have no idea how hard it has been to keep this quiet for a week."

"What? You have to go?" Kylie asked, slightly upset that she couldn't keep talking to Mary to keep her mind off of a certain detective.

"The movers are coming to Baker Street and they just pulled up."

"You're moving into Baker Street?" Kylie asked, fully amused.

"No, I'm picking up John's stuff. He's moving into my flat. It's a bit larger and that way Sherlock can keep Baker Street."

"Wait," Kylie said as she felt her body go slightly numb, putting the puzzle pieces together, "What is John talking to Sherlock about?"

Mary sighed on the other end of the line, giving Kylie her answer.

"Sherlock doesn't know yet. John wanted to tell him while you lot were in the States. Something about how if his stuff is already moved out and Sherlock wasn't there, he could adapt easier and be slightly less abrasive about it."

Kylie was silent on the other end of the line. This was something between John and Sherlock. She knew she shouldn't be involved, but she couldn't help but feel as if John were abandoning Sherlock. She knew this was absurd as John was a grown man and entitled to his own happiness, but she knew Sherlock would be on his own, and isolated from the rest of the world once more.

"You think we are terrible, don't you?" Mary asked sadly.

"No. Not at all Mary. I'm happy for you two."

"Don't think this doesn't eat us up, Ky," Mary told her, "I feel guilty as hell for taking John away from Sherlock. They love each other like brothers and since you have been gone, that man has needed someone at Baker Street. John has been there for him and I thought we should maybe wait until after the wedding to move out, but John thinks that would be too much for him. Sherlock hates change; the slower and more progressive that change can be, the better he can adapt."

"So moving out while he is gone is the answer?"

"Kylie, you know what I mean. First step is moving out, second is we get married and third have a family… One step at a time."

Kylie sighed; she hadn't meant to be so crass with her friend over her own happiness.

"John feels terrible. I'm assuming that's why he hasn't told Sherlock yet… or you."

Kylie sighed on the other end of the line. She knew Sherlock was hard to deal with for Mary sometimes. Their relationship had been rocky to begin with as Sherlock hazed her, but Mary had quickly won him over in the end. She knew that after she had left, Sherlock had taken some things out on Mary; snapping at her, deducing her, and harassing her. But Mary empathized with him, refusing to let it get under her skin. She was the only one of John's girlfriend's who truly tried to understand and get along with the dark-haired detective.

"You really are a great person, Mare. I really am happy for the two of you."

"Thank Ky," Mary told her, a smile in her voice, "Skype later?"

"Yes. I want to hear all about the proposal."

"Oh you'll love it. John went all cheesy for it."

Kylie laughed, "Perfect, I want to harass him about it!"

"Oh, you'll have ammo!"

"Perfect I'll talk to you later!"

"Bye!"

Kylie smiled to herself as she hung up the phone. She really was happy for her friends. They were perfect for each other.

Kylie stood up and sighed as she walked out of the stall and looking at the mirror.

"Pull yourself together Gibbs," she told herself as she tried to wipe off the makeup she had ruined. She fixed her hair the best she could and stood up straight, taking a breath before walking out of the restroom and back into the bullpen.

No one gave her a second glance as she made her way to the conference room.

_Good. Pull it off as if you haven't been crying in the bathroom like a pitiful little girl for the last ten minutes. _

She felt anxiety rising in her chest as she approached the conference room, seeing Sherlock intently focused on his laptop.

_He shoved you away… again…_

_No. Keep it together. You can break down when you get home. _

She quickly and briefly popped her head in the conference room, avoiding looking at Sherlock.

"Hey John, can I talk to you in private a minute?"

Everyone in the room looked up at her in slight surprise. John frowned and looked at her curiously.

"Uh, yeah. Of course," he said as he got up, walking towards her.

"You okay Ky?" Lestrade asked her.

"Yeah I'm fine," Kylie said as she forced a smile before ducking out of the room and pulling John with her down the hallway in a small entryway that was private enough, yet closer than her office.

Once they reached the entryway, Kylie spun around and faced her friend, smiling at him.

"I just got off the phone with Mary. A congratulations is in order."

John rolled his eyes and smiled, "Mary wasn't supposed to say anything."

"I told you she'd say yes."

John laughed and shook his head in disbelief.

"It still seems like a dream that that woman agreed to marry me."

"If she put up with Sherlock this long, you know that woman is in it for the long haul," Kylie joked remembering the 'stints' Sherlock used to pull on other women John had dated in the past.

"True," John laughed.

Kylie bit her lip as she looked at her friend, not believing that she was asking this question, "Is that why you want to be moved out before you and Sherlock return to Baker Street?"

John froze and looked up at Kylie before shutting his eyes and sighing; guilt evident on his face.

"Mary told you that too, huh?"

"Yeah…" Kylie said quietly as she looked down, regretting asking the question.

"I feel like I'm abandoning him, Kylie." John admitted to her, "I want to get married, live my life, start a family. I realistically can't do that in Baker Street with a flat mate. It was strange enough having Mary over with Sherlock barging in, waking us up at all hours of the night for cases. I know that I have the right to move out, but at the same time, I feel as if I'm leaving Sherlock behind."

"Have you talked to him about it at all?"

John gave her a look.

"Yeah okay," Kylie said, understanding John's reasoning, "We both know Sherlock doesn't do well with talks."

"No he doesn't." John agreed.

"You'll still be there though, he knows that," Kylie encouraged.

"Does he?" John asked, "Sherlock is about absolutes. He needs someone at Baker Street. It's a lot more convenient for him to barge into my room upstairs than to go to Mary's place on the opposite side of London."

"You'll be there all the time."

"I know that, but being there and living there are two different things."

Kylie sighed, "Yeah, I guess you are right. Sherlock probably doesn't get the whole 'love conquers all thing'."

"Well," John said with a small smile, "he has you back in his life."

Kylie just stared at John, giving him a hard look. John just shrugged and laughed, tossing up his hands in defense.

"Just saying."

Kylie rolled her eyes.

"Look, I know the man can be difficult, John. But he's your best friend. Just talk to him. It will take him a little bit, but he'll be happy for you and support you in his own way. You know he will."

John sighed again, running a hand through his hair once more.

"I know. I just don't know what to tell him."

"The truth, John."

"Sherlock? What are you doing standing there?" Lestrade's voice floated down the hallway from a few feet away.

"Shit," John said in sudden realization that they had been overheard.

_Sherlock had followed them. _

… _this was not how he was supposed to find out…_

Kylie turned and walked down the hallway just in time to see Sherlock storm out of the bullpen and down the stairs, leaving a perplexed Lestrade behind.

Kylie sighed.

_Sherlock knew his best friend was moving out and moving on behind his back. _

… _this wasn't going to go well…_

**Review? Make my day a little brighter with some thoughts and feedback?**


	15. Chapter 15

**You guys are the greatest! A Huge thanks to all of my amazing reviewers for taking the time to write your comments and thoughts. I always ALWAYS greatly appreciate it!**

**Here's the next one. Relatively short… hope you enjoy though!**

Sherlock stormed out of the FBI building and kept walking as fast as he can. He nearly knocked over an agent walking into the building, but that didn't phase him. His feet just kept walking as fast as he could away from the building.

He was in an unfamiliar town; he didn't know the streets like he London. He had no idea how to navigate this town or where to go. He couldn't go back to the hotel. John would find him there with guilt-ridden apologies.

He needed to think. He couldn't do that if John was yapping at him.

His friend was… engaged. He was moving out and on with his life… yet he had hid it from him.

_Why?_

Why on earth had he hid it from him? What did he care that John was throwing his life away with an arbitrary ceremony and marriage? I didn't. At all. So what did he care?

He didn't.

_Then why are you upset?_

_I'm not. _

_Yes you are. John is your friend, your only friend since Kylie left._

As much as he hated to admit it, he needed John- he had since the case with the woman in pink.

….What did John call it in that God-awful blog of his?

A study in Pink?

Sherlock rolled his eyes. It didn't matter. He hated that blog, but as annoying as it was, it had brought him some interesting cases… some very interesting cases.

He shouldn't care that. Hell he shouldn't care if John was leaving. He wouldn't have before he met the man. But now… now he found himself for the first time in his life, not wanting his friend to leave Baker Street. John was an ever-standing constant in his life. He had already lost Kylie, and now he was losing John. He didn't know if he could operate without one constant in his life. He used to be able to, but not anymore. He needed someone he could count on, someone he could bounce ideas off of , someone he could talk to… help him… who did he have now that John was leaving?

_Kylie… you could have Kylie once more. _

Sherlock groaned internally.

_God, another topic that needed hours of thinking…_

He couldn't do this. Not again. The last thing that he needed were these feelings returning. Why in the hell were they returning in the first place? The emptiness he had felt in London after Kylie had left had dissipated since he first set eyes on her in the airport. The warmth and butterflies had returned to his stomach, dissipating the emptiness he felt.

Must be the salt air of the Pacific Ocean….

Who was he kidding? He was logical enough to put two and two together. The only factor was Kylie. He hadn't felt like this in London. That empty feeling overtook him, especially at night when his bed felt cold and empty. He had avoided sleeping since Kylie left.

He didn't want to admit it, but he missed her. He hated himself for it, but he did. He missed the way he smelled, the way she laughed, the way she played with her hair when she was thinking….

Seeing her made him realize that he missed her. He didn't know why, but she did somehow…. She was remarkable.

Sherlock looked up, seeing that he wandered to a park, sitting down on a bench with a view of the ocean.

It was a beautiful day; sunny in the mid-afternoon with an ocean breeze. Children playing while the sounds of the ocean waves hitting the beach rolled in the distance. He just wished his mind would quiet down and he could relax and catch a serial killer.

_That… and have Kylie back in your arms._

Sherlock rolled his eyes at himself. That wasn't an option for many, MANY reasons.

One: he didn't do feelings and emotions (no matter how much he was beginning to enjoy the warmth and giddiness).

Two: he was going back to London after they caught the Ripper Copy-cat. She would most likely stay in San Diego. Was it worth opening himself up again and being susceptible to emotions and feelings once more?

…_Its worth it for her. Plus… who said you would get hurt?_

He groaned internally once more. He really wished his own brain would shut the hell up for once. God knows he was fed up with his subconscious consistently contradicting him and distracting him from the case at hand. He used to be able to focus; wipe his mind clean and just think about the case… but now… now that was an impossible feat.

His subconscious was an idiot.

_Kylie left London because of you… why would you think she'd want you back?_

_I didn't._

_You did. _

Sherlock growled in anger at his mind once more.

He knew he had lashed out at Kylie back in London. She deserved to be treated much better than that. John had lectured him enough for it to actually stick in his mind. In his mind, he knew that he didn't deserve her to take him back, she deserved to be treated much better than he had treated her.

…_who says that you want her back?_

_You did moron. _

Sherlock looked up in annoyance with himself.

_He was not doing this again…_

_That woman told you she loves you…_

Love.

Sherlock scoffed.

Love was such an arbitrary concept. He had almost let himself believe in it nearly a year ago when he and Kylie broke up, but he had seen the light before it came back to bite him.

Sherlock sighed once more and put his head in his hands once more. He just wanted his min don the case. His life as he knew it was falling apart once more. First Kylie left, then he begins to get these crazy thoughts and feelings of emptiness. Next thing he knows, hes in San Diego, right where Kylie is, causing the warmth and butterflies to begin in his stomach again. And now… now John was engaged and moving out of Baker Street. He was going to be all on his own once more. A few years ago, that would have been fine, but now… now he didn't like the thought of it at all.

He took a shaky breath as he tried to calm himself. That's when his senses picked up

…_lavender and vanilla…_

Great, not only was he missing this woman, now he was arbitrarily smelling her.

He couldn't deny it. Somehow that scent relaxed him. It was intoxicating. He hated himself but he wanted to hold her tightly into his chest and bury his face in her hair, just taking her all in once more. She was the only thing that made him feel at peace- complete.

_Stop being an idiot…_

_You cant help how you feel…_

"Are you just going to sit like that all day?"

Sherlock's head shot up to see Kylie standing across from him, holding two cups and wearing a smirk.

"Coffee?" she asked holding one out for him, "Black, two sugars. I thought you could use one… or a scotch… but the stand happened to be fresh out, so this was the next best I could do."

Sherlock chuckled slightly and took the coffee gratefully. Kylie smiled and sat next to him on the bench, smoothing out her skirt as they both fell into a comfortable silence.

Kylie brushed her hair out of her face from the ocean breeze as she sipped her coffee. She remained quiet. She figured when Sherlock wanted to talk, he would talk.

They sat in silence until Kylie felt eyes on her.

She looked over and found Sherlock staring at her. She just raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"Don't you have a date or something?" Sherlock asked her.

Kylie shrugged, not taking his invitation to leave him alone, "Its not really a date I'm looking forward to. Our online profiles told us weren't that compatible."

Sherlock smirked and turned back to the ocean view.

"Could be a killer date though."

Kylie laughed, "Good! That was good!"

"I thought so," Sherlock said with a smile as he took another sip of his coffee.

Sherlock turned and looked at her as they fell back into silence. It was curious… why on earth had all of his worries, internal struggles, and panic dissipated once she had sat next to him?

How could this woman have such an effect on him?

"John feels terrible, you know?" Kylie said as she leaned forward on her knees, nursing her coffee as she looked at him, "he was going to tell you, he just didn't know how."

Sherlock glared at the ground, choosing not to say anything.

He saw Kylie soften out of the corner of his eye.

"He cares about you," she continued, "He will still be around all the time, he just wont be living at Baker Street…"

"I need someone at Baker Street!" Sherlock told her suddenly, "I need someone I can count on at all hours. John's already become too domesticated and has priorities other than cases."

"Oh come on!" Kylie argued, "Mary gets it! She's in on these cases too. She's the coroner for crying out loud!"

"I need someone there," Sherlock told her, "Someone who I trust, someone who brings a differing perspective, someone brilliant…" he said as he began to trail off, looking at her in a different light.

Kylie raised an eyebrow at him, seeing the sudden difference.

"Are you stroking?" she asked.

"Move into Baker Street," he said suddenly, not hearing her prior comment.

Kylie felt as if she had had a sudden stroke. Her mind went blank in shock at his words.

_He couldn't really be asking her this…_

"I'm… sorry?" she gaped, "I don't think I heard you correctly."

"Move into Baker Street," Sherlock told her once more, "Come back to London."

Kylie just stared at him.

_Maybe he was just drunk…?_

_On coffee?_

"Me?" Kylie asked slowly, making sure she had this all correct, "You want me to move into Baker Street with you?"

"Yes. You can assist me on cases."

_Assist…_

"You want me to move back to London and move in with you?" she asked slowly once more.

"Yes, why is that so difficult for you to understand."

"You want me to move into 221B… not my old flat?"

"Yes it doesn't make sense for you to live downstairs if we are to be working cases."

"You want me to be your roommate?"

"Seriously? Have you become deaf suddenly?"

"So I would be your roommate and your ex-girlfriend?"

"Why do titles matter?"

Kylie sighed and looked down at her coffee in blatant shock at where this conversation had taken a turn.

_This was so not how she was expecting this conversation to go…_

"Will you?" Sherlock pried.

Kylie looked up at him. In her mind she knew the answer, but when she looked up at him and saw that slight pleading look, her heart reached for another answer.

"Yes," slipped out of her mouth before she looked at him in shock, "I mean no," she quickly covered up, "I mean.. I don't know Sherlock! We cant live together! That's insane! There used to be an 'us'."

Sherlock looked at her, perplexed, "There still is an us," he told her.

Kylie's jaw dropped.

That was NOT the answer she had expected.

_Oh my God, he did still care for her._

"We are sitting right next to each other. If you speak proper English, there will be an 'us' until one of 'us' leaves."

Kylie stared at him for a moment in shock of the man's ignorance, before shutting her eyes.

_Well, there goes that theory._

"You literally have no idea why I am having a difficult time with this, do you?"

Sherlock looked at her, furrowing his brow in silent confusion.

Kylie sighed before smiling at him.

"I moved across the globe to get over you Sherlock. As much as I missed you, and as much as enjoy seeing you again, I'm not sure if I can do it. BUT, I will think about it and consider it."

Sherlock looked at her and nodded, feeling the pit in his stomach flutter and grow ever-so-slightly in disappointment.

She laid a hand over his, squeezing it tightly before leaning over and kissing his cheek.

Sherlock felt his heart flutter rapidly as her soft lips touched his cheek. It took him a moment to come back to earth before she pulled away, getting up.

"Well, I'd better be off. I have a date to get ready for," she smiled at him, "I'll see you later tonight?"

Sherlock nodded.

"Talk to John, will you?" Kylie asked as she gave him one last smile before walking away.

Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes like a drama queen. Talk to your friend like a grown up," Kylie yelled over her shoulder as she walked back towards the FBI building.

Sherlock felt a smile tug on his lips as he watched her walk, admiring the way the skirt and shirt fit her and the way her hips swayed when she wore high heels.

_Okay… what in the hell was wrong with him?!_

Sherlock sighed once more before throwing out his coffee.

_This girl had really turned his world upside down._

**Thoughts? Feelings? Insight? Review?**


	16. Chapter 16

**Okay, I am so sorry guys! It took me forever to post this. I apologize my life has been a bit crazy lately! Here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy!**

**PS: thank you to all of my reviewers! I love you all!**

Kylie sighed as she unlocked her door, walking into her house and tossing her keys in the bowl before running a hand through her hair out of stress.

Tags jingled as an extremely happy Toby ran up to greet her, barking happily.

Kylie smiled. This dog… no matter how sad she was or what had happened, this dog always brought a smile to her face.

"Hey bud!" she cooed to the happy dog. Toby barked with excitement as he wagged his tail so much that his entire bottom half wiggled.

"How's my favorite boy?" she asked as she knelt down to rub his ears. Toby groaned happily before Kylie stood up, removing her heels and tossing them lazily towards her bedroom. She plopped herself on the couch and sighed once more.

Today had been long… too long and it still wasn't over.

First, she had been sexually harassed by a middle-aged man while undercover. Then she had come back only to find out her partner had blabbed to her father about the case and the possibility that she was in danger. That news had led her to fall into Sherlock's arms once more only resulting in confusion as he had gone from caring to shove her away once more.

Though she had heard the happy news about two of her best friends, it had led to another issue- John moving out.

She felt bad for Sherlock. She knew he felt as if he were losing one of his best friends. He wasn't losing John, but Kylie understood how he could feel that way. John was beginning another aspect of his life, a new phase that included Sherlock less while focusing on Mary, maybe a family in a few years. John was gaining priorities- priorities that weren't Sherlock or cases.

Deep down, she knew that Sherlock needed companionship. He needed to live with someone, have someone else other than a skull to talk to. He pretended that he didn't want or need human interaction, but in reality, he needed it to thrive. Without it, he holed up within himself, and Kylie had a hunch that that is when he went towards his old drug habit.

Kylie sighed and scratched Toby's ears as he whined and rested his head on her knee, sensing something was wrong as her mind skipped from thought to thought.

Why had Sherlock asked her to move in with her? Even for him, that was a rash move. Did he really miss her? Or was it because he didn't want to be alone? Was it his way of asking her to get back together?

…Somehow she doubted that…

It would be a horrible idea to move in with him, Kylie knew that. She wasn't just going to move her whole life back to London after she had moved here to get away from him. She wasn't going just because she felt bad for his loneliness and inability to cope without John's company 24 hours a day. She wanted to move back and be with the man she had run away from, but she knew that he wasn't going to take that risk to get back together.

_Did she even want to get back together?_

Kylie ran a hand through her hair. She loved that man. She knew she did. She had never met anyone who made her head spin as much as he did. Someone as fascinating, brilliant, and extraordinary as he was. Kylie knew she yearned to be back in that man's arms, but part of her knew that wasn't the best option.

Sherlock's rudeness and the way he treated her back in London was out of place and out of line. She had left for a reason. Mary was right; it was a coping mechanism that he took out on her, but she needed to draw the line. She didn't deserve to be treated that way.

_But the way he had been acting…_

She didn't know if she could put up with the pulling her close and throwing her aside once more…

Who was she kidding? She knew she couldn't. If this thing was going to work, she needed to be sure that he wasn't going to do that to her once more.

Her mind went back to the text that she received from him right before those long two years he had been out of her life.

_I cared. I always did. _

_I'm sorry_

_-SH_

She knew that deep down somewhere, did really did love her. It had just been shoved away, far away in his mind palace. She knew that he was struggling with it, they had been they were together. He had only admitted it to her once, right before she told him that she didn't believe him and slammed the door in his face, consequently forever.

She shut her eyes and sighed sadly as she remembered the look of sincerity on his face. He had practically begged her to listen to him, and for Sherlock, that was rare.

He really did love her in his own way. Sherlock Holmes was definitely not your typical man. Most men wanted sex, a girl to look pretty on their arm… but Sherlock. He wanted intellect, brilliance, to solve cases…

Toby whined again and nudged her, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Kylie looked down and smiled at the dog as he wagged his tail. She really did love this creature.

She bent down and kissed Toby between the eyes when she heard a knock on the door. Toby perked up, barking protectively as she went to answer the door.

"Hey," Kylie said in slight surprise as she found Irene holding a large shopping bag on the other side of the door, "I wasn't expecting you until later."

"I figured you'd need a bit of help getting ready," Irene said smiling as Kylie let her in the flat, "That and I picked you up a few things."

Kylie smiled and opened it up, peering inside the bag.

Kylie raised an eyebrow at what she saw.

"You want me to wear this?"

Irene grinned at her as she sat down on the couch.

"Yes, and you are going to look drop dead gorgeous in it."

***&amp;# (#* ()#) ($**

"What in the hell is taking so damn long?" Charlie complained in Kylie's living room later that night.

He, John, and Lestrade all sat patiently… or not so patiently in the living room waiting for the women to finish getting ready for the op.

"Obviously you have never lived with a woman before," Lestrade said as he picked up a magazine Kylie had lying around.

"Where's Sherlock?" John asked suddenly as he drummed his fingers on the chair with worry.

"He'll get over it, John," Lestrade told him for the umpteenth time that night, "he won't hold it against you."

John turned and gave Lestrade a look.

"Have you met Sherlock?"

Lestrade shrugged, "Do you want to feel better about it or have the truth?"

John groaned and put his head in his hands in despair.

Just then, as if on cue, Sherlock took that moment in time to stroll through the door.

John's head shot up.

"Where have you been?" John asked, jumping up like a worried parent.

Sherlock stared at him, taken a back, as he lookd at his friend for a moment, before choosing to ignore the sudden concern for his whereabouts and turn to Lestrade and Charlie.

"Shouldn't we be leaving soon?" he asked the other two men.

"We just have to wait for Princess Beauty to get all of her makeup on," Charlie joked as he threw a ball for Toby.

"It all worth it in the end, isn't it dear?" Irene said as she walked out of Kylie's room and into the living room.

"Where is she?" Charlie asked as his eyes freely roamed Irene's body, causing the dominatrix to raise an eyebrow at him, "We need to go over where we are all going to be placed."

"You lot are all going with her?" Irene asked skeptically.

"Yeah, that's why its called an _undercover_ operation," Charlie said as he put his hands in his pockets and stared at her like a hungry fox, "But if you are free, I'd take you out to a dinner and then some afterwards."

Irene smiled at him.

"Oh sweetheart, you can't afford me."

Charlie stared at her in confusion as Sherlock smirked at the response.

"What's the plan as of right now?" Lestrade asked as he looked up at the younger FBI agent.

No answer.

"Charlie?"

"Huh?" Charlie asked as he came back to reality.

"What's the plan as of right now?" Lestrade asked, trying to hide the smirk on his face at Charlie's confusion with the only female in the room.

"Oh, you and I will be going into the restaurant while Sherlock, John, and the lady stay in the van."

"No, I'm going in," Sherlock said immediately.

"No," Charlie told him firmly, "that is the plan."

"Am I not coming now?" Irene asked as Sherlock became more and more annoyed with each passing second that he was stuck in the van.

"No, you aren't." he told Irene, "You are a distraction."

"Oh, I'm sorry for being distracting for having breasts, but you do need me there," Irene replied calmly.

"I need to be in there. I am the only one who will be able to find the killer," Sherlock argued blatantly.

"Lestrade and I are capable of recognizing killers."

"Yes, after they kill when it is very obvious," Sherlock countered.

"Lestrade heard his voice! I am trained in profiling as well as the only person other than Kylie with a gun here!"

"Sherlock has a point," John inputted, causing everyone in the room looked at him in surprise, "Lestrade and Sherlock should go in. They are the only ones who are able to identify the killer quickly as possible before anything goes down. Plus, it may be a better idea to have you in the van, ready to burst in guns a blazing if need be."

Everyone stared at John for a moment before Charlie sighed, "Can't you be guilt-ridden and make valid points once this case is over?"

Footsteps made their way down the hall.

"Irene, how in the hell did you get my boobs to look like this?" Kylie said as she walked out into the living room, adjusting her breasts and looking down, completely oblivious to the presence of the men in the room, "I mean seriously, I don't think they have ever looked this good…"

She trailed off and stopped, instantly reddening before she removed her hands from herself.

"WOW," Charlie said with a large smile as he put his hands in his pockets, taking her all in, "All I can say, is wow."

Sherlock felt the slight urge to hit her partner, but found he couldn't move… he could hardly think as his breath caught in his throat at the sight of her.

His heart had stopped beating in his chest for a moment as he turned to look at him. His entire body began tingling with shock and pleasure as that annoying warmth and giddiness overtook him with such force, his mind was momentarily wiped blank.

She looked different. She was still… breathtaking, but in a different way.

She was wearing a very classic looking, tight red dress that hugged all of her curves body. The dress dipped down, showing some, yet not too much skin as it swooped down low on her back; leaving skin that was begging him to reach out and touch as it highlighted the delicate muscles of her back.

Kylie cleared her throat uncomfortably as she shifted, wiping a perfectly curled strand of hair out of her face, "Do I look high-class hooker enough?"

"You look… sexy as hell," Charlie said as he circled her approvingly.

Kylie's embarrassment, turned into an icy glare that she redirected towards her partner.

"What?" Charlie asked defensively as he threw up his hands, "I'm just telling you the truth."

Kylie rolled her eyes and tugged at her dress, trying to make it a little longer, causing Irene to sigh and get up.

"Stop fussing with it, will you?" she asked as she smacked Kylie's hands away and began fixing a few strands of her hair.

"So, the plan…?" Lestrade asked, with slight amusement as he eyed Irene scolding Kylie.

"Right," Charlie said as he walked over to his duffle bag, giving Kylie and Irene a look up and down as if to try to commit it to memory before he began pulling earpieces and glasses out of the bag, "Sherlock you'll be wearing these…"

Charlie held them out for the consulting detective to take as he continued digging through the bag. When he didn't take them, Charlie looked up at him. The cocky FBI agent suppressed a laugh as he found the British detective to be staring at Kylie with a slightly dumbfounded look on his face, completely lost in his own thoughts.

Charlie glanced over at his partner before he shook his head. Kylie was too busy fiddling with her hair in the mirror to even notice the strange look she was getting.

_Oblivious to male attention… like always. _

"Hey Romeo," Charlie said as he tossed an earpiece and the camera glasses into his lap, startling him out of his trance.

Sherlock jumped and turned a bright shade of red, avoiding everyone's eye furiously.

Lestrade smiled as he watched Kylie turn in confusion as Charlie quickly moved on.

"So Romeo and Lestrade will be in the restaurant. Sherlock will be at the bar. Lestrade your cover will be that you are waiting for your wife to arrive to dine at a table under the name of Johnson. Irene, the killer may be from the modeling agency and your presence will scare them off, so you will be in the van with us."

Irene nodded reluctantly as Charlie handed Lestrade an earpiece and a pin.

"Greg, you'll be wearing this as your eyes and Sherlock will have the video glasses. You two will be on the look out for our perp. Any sign of trouble, the word is 'banana'."

Kylie snorted loudly as she began laughing, turning to Irene.

"I told you."

Irene smiled and looked at Charlie with a raised eyebrow, "And I thought he was actually going to step up his game."

Charlie gave his partner a look of confusion, "What?"

"Banana. You always use banana and it is by far the lamest code word… ever."

Charlie glared at her before continuing on with his speech, choosing to ignore her.

"John, Irene and I will be out in the van a black away. We're your back up, alright?"

Kylie sighed, taking a more serious note as she began mentally preparing herself for the task ahead.

_She could do this._

Kylie was brought out of her thoughts when a hand wrapped around her wrist and dragging her quickly towards the door. She looked up in shock to see a stony-faced Sherlock pulling her urgently out the door.

"A quick word," Sherlock told her as he pulled her out the front door, closing the door behind them, leaving the rest of the group behind.

Everyone in the room frowned at the shut door in slight bewilderment.

Charlie was the first one to speak as he turned to the rest of the group and asked, "Was the sexual tension between them always this bad? Or has it gotten worse since they broke up?"

"You should have seen them before they got together," Lestrade commented as he pinned the pin on his suit jacket with a slightly smug grin.

_Those two wanted each other more than they both knew. _

**&amp;* *(#( # ^&amp;#***

"Sherlock!? What?" Kylie protested as he pulled her around the front of her house, out of sight of the front door or windows.

He stopped and turned her cornering her against the house.

Kylie felt the breath instantly leave her lungs as she watched Sherlock stare at her for a moment. She watched his pupils dilate ever so slightly as he stared at her. Unable to help herself, her eyes flicked downward, forcing her to bite back a groan.

_Bastard just had to be wearing the purple shirt with the video cam glasses… Damn. _

_The man had never looked sexier. _

Her eyes flicked back up to his, catching his eyes wandering.

"You… You look stunning," he said quietly as a slight blush began to creep up his neck.

If she could breathe or think, Kylie would have raised an eyebrow at him, but instead she swallowed and held her gaze with him.

_Not going to happen Kylie. Stop this…_

"Uh, thanks," she said as she cleared her throat, trying to control her hormones, "Why are we outside though?"

_Always using sarcasm as a defense mechanism, huh Kylie?_

_Shut up._

Sherlock was silent for a moment before his eyes pleaded with her, "Don't do this Kyleigha."

She softened towards him.

"This killer is after you. Playing the role of bait is more than just stupid."

Kylie broke eye contact, guilt filling her slightly in response to his look of concern. Before she realized it, she was watching her hands reach out and fiddle with the collar of his shirt, before her hands slide down his firm chest.

_God, she'd missed him. _

_WHAT ARE YOU DOING KYLIE!_

She snapped back to reality, pulling her hands back quickly as if he had burned her.

"We've talked about this," she told him, trying to quickly recover, but failing as she stuttered over her words a bit, "I will be fine, Sherlock. This is the only way we can catch him."

"There's another way. There always is."

"Then what do you suggest?" Kylie asked as she looked up at him, swearing he had moved closer.

He just stared at her.

Kylie smiled and reached out to touch his chest once more, but caught herself, pulling her hands back down immediately.

"I will be fine. I will have you and Lestrade there with me."

"He knows how to kidnap women."

"I'm not most women. I carry a gun and have backup."

Sherlock gave her a look.

He looked worried. Sherlock Holmes didn't look worried. To most people he wouldn't, but Kylie could hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes.

"I'll be careful Sherlock," Kylie told him softly, as she looked into his eyes, trying to reassure him, "I will walk out of this. I promise."

Sherlock stared at her. Kylie's eyes searched his for some sort of reassurance, but all she saw was worry. He took a step closer to her, causing her breath to catch in her throat once more. She couldn't think; she couldn't breathe. Before her neurons could reconnect, Sherlock leaned forward. Kylie shut her eyes habitually as his lips softly met hers. Euphoria ran through her veins as that shaky fluttery feeling returned. It was only momentarily as just as quickly as his lips landed on her's, they were gone once more.

Kylie's eyes fluttered open as her head spun wildly. When her vision cleared, she found Sherlock had disappeared and was walking back into the house.

Kylie gaped as her body was a mixture between numbness and tingling as she couldn't decide if she was shocked, reeling from the kiss, or a little bit of both.

_Did he just kiss me?_

They had been broken up for nearly two years. She had moved across the globe to get away from him, and yet here she was.

_It was only a peck, Kyleigha._

_One hell of a peck. Have you ever felt this way after a quick peck? _

"Alright! We ready?" Charlie announced as he walked out of the house, unlocking the van as the rest of the group trickled out.

Kylie just kept staring at where Sherlock had been in shock. She couldn't move, think, or breathe, let alone function.

"You okay Ky?"

Kylie's eyes snapped up to see John looking at her with concern.

"Yeah, why?" Kylie said breathlessly as she tried to play it off.

"Because you are out of breath and your cheeks are bright red," John told her.

Kylie blinked a few times as she watched Sherlock get in the van, avoiding her eye.

"Yeah," she said as she cleared her throat, "I'm fine John."

_At least I think I am…_

**Thoughts? Feelings? **

**Review?**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi guys! Long time no post!  
**

**My apologies. I am completely swamped. I have been sick, working like crazy, school has started, and on top of all that, I was offered a PhD position. That process is nuts. I pretty much have to finish my thesis, present, and publish in 2 months. **

**So I have little time for sleep and eating, let alone writing. I love you all and I love writing this story and will continue if I have free time (obviously this will get better when I am done with my thesis and school) but my chapters will be sporadic and unfortunately rare (though, I say that and watch me start writing like crazy, because that's always what happens). **

**Anyhow, I hope you all understand. I apologize once more. **

**Also, a HUGE thanks to all of you who take the time to review. You have no idea how much it makes my day to see a long review and someone put time and effort to make comments. **

**BTW, does anyone live/ is from Perth WA? I am apparently moving there and have never been to Aus, so it will be interesting :D**

**Thanks loves! Enjoy!**

_His lips on hers._

_The way the warmth and fluttery feeling returned to her body as her head spun…_

_The feeling of cold and the harsh reality of falling from cloud nine when he pulled away after only a fleeting moment. _

"KYLIE!"

Kylie snapped out of her trance as her head shot up, finding a puzzled Lestrade, amused Irene, and suspicious John looking at her.

She stared at them in slight shock for a moment before clearing her throat and avoiding the eye of the man currently haunting her thoughts.

"What?" she asked as she made to run a hand through her hair before she remembered it was perfectly curled and pulled her hand back quickly.

"Are you seriously okay?" John asked for about the fifth time since they had started driving.

"Yes. John. Once more, I am fine," Kylie said in slight annoyance.

Sherlock glanced at her for the first time since the kiss. He had been trying his best to avoid her gaze for the last fifteen minutes. He had been wracking his mind the entire ride for why he had kissed her. He didn't know what came over him, or why on earth he had kissed her, but his mind was still feeling and that wonderful warm feeling that had erupted in his chest the moment was still lingering from her touch.

Sherlock swallowed as the van began to slow.

_Focus. Focus on the case. _

Sherlock hadn't even realized the van had stopped when he was brought out of his thoughts when Charlie's feet pounded on the metal floor as he uncomfortably moved to the back of the van.

Suddenly, Sherlock felt eyes on him. It was in that moment that he realized everyone but Kylie was staring at him.

"What?" he snapped, fully annoyed not only with himself, but with the others.

Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"I just asked if you were ready man," Charlie told him, "You are up first."

Sherlock just stared at Charlie for a moment before he made to get up and step out of the van. As he got up, Kylie looked up, her blue eyes catching his. He stopped for a moment, staring at her. He felt his breath catch in his chest and that bad feeling deep down in his stomach return.

_She shouldn't be doing this._

_There's no stopping it now, you know that. _

_But…_

_Go. Now. _

He tore his eyes from her's and nearly ran out of the van, slamming the door shut behind him as he fled into the restaurant hoping to regain his focus when he was away from her gaze.

_FOCUS!_

**&amp;&amp;#*( #() **

Kylie let out a shaky breath as Sherlock left the van, leaving a heavy silence behind him.

"Okay, seriously, what happened outside?" John asked, "The two of you are worse than usual and right before this, that isn't a good thing."

"Nothing John," Kylie said as casually as she could, avoiding his eye by playing with her nails.

"You suck at lying Ky," Charlie said without even looking at her as he was bringing Sherlock's camera up on the monitor.

Kylie shot a glare over at her partner.

Silence took over the van for a moment.

"So what…?"

"DROP IT!" Kylie yelled furiously, before getting out of the van and slamming the door once more.

Kylie leaned up against the van door as she shut her eyes attempting to gather herself before she went in.

_Easier said than done…_

Her heart was still racing and her head was spinning with a certain dark haired detective.

_She needed to focus. She needed her head on straight._

_Like that is going to happen after that kiss. _

_Peck. It was a peck. _

_No, it was a hell of a kiss._

Kylie growled in frustration with herself as she straightened, brushed her hair out of her face, and tried to put herself together before she slowly walked towards the restaurant.

***&amp;( *#( *#() ***

Sherlock swirled the dark liquid in his glass as his eyes scanned the restaurant. Anxiety was building in his stomach. He did not have a good feeling about this. Kylie was at risk and in danger… that was what worried him. He should stop this op while he still could, but he knew this was their only lead to catching this guy.

The door opened as Kylie walked in, smiling at the Maître De as Sherlock felt his breath leave his chest once more.

_God she was beautiful…_

Sherlock stiffened slightly as his brain kicked in once more.

_What was he thinking? Why was he having these problems once more? There must be something wrong with his diaphragm if he lost his breath from the second time today. _

…_Or it could just be your emotions…_

Sherlock sat there, attempting to glare at himself. He needed to stop this. He had a job to do. He needed to be looking for the killer, not focused on the woman he was trying to protect.

He took a sip of his drink as he watched every head in the room turn and watch Kylie as she made her way confidently across the room. Sherlock could see in her eyes that she hated every moment under the spotlight, but she was able to play it off as confidence. She gracefully slid onto a barstool a few seats down from Sherlock and quietly ordered a drink from the eagerly awaiting bartender.

As soon as her body had touched the barstool, an overly confident man made a beeline straight for her.

_Not the killer. Too quick to approach her. _

Sherlock fought a smile as he knew what was to come next.

_This would be interesting._

"Well, hello gorgeous," the man told her with a smile as he approached her, "can I buy you a drink?"

Kylie turned and rose an eyebrow at him as she quickly looked him up and down.

The man grinned, confident that she would like what she saw.

He was a well-dressed man; neatly put together from head to toe. He was dressed to the nine in an expensive Italian suit, with shoes most likely so expensive they could pay to feed a family for a year.

"No thank you," Kylie replied politely, obviously having the same thought as Sherlock, "I am waiting for someone."

"I could be that someone," the man said leaning towards her, grinning, "I mean if I were him I would have picked you up and not allowed the opportunity of a fine gentleman such as myself to steal you away."

Kylie rolled her eyes lightly and laughed politely.

The man smiled, believing she was enjoying herself.

"What are you drinking beautiful?"

"Scotch."

The man let out a low whistle, "A beautiful woman who likes scotch? I think I've found my dream girl."

Kylie smiled at him, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Darling, no offense. But I highly doubt you could afford my hourly rate."

With that, Kylie took a sip of her scotch and turned back to face the bar, looking out the window at the people on the street.

Sherlock watched the man's face contort into confusion, and then realization and fear took over. The man stared at her with wide eyes, unable to move.

"Are you going to keep staring at me, or walk away?" Kylie asked him, not even looking at him.

The man blinked a few times before slowly turning and walking back over to his friends, still stunned.

Sherlock looked over at Kylie, watching her smile as she took another sip of her drink.

_She enjoyed chasing men off…_

***#(* ()# *()# ***

Kylie sighed as she glanced at the clock once more.

9:45. She was supposed to meet him at 8:30.

_Guess he was a no show._

Kylie glanced behind her, catching Lestrade's eye for a moment at a table in the back. He was looking just as bored as she felt.

_Obviously, he's not seeing anyone._

She turned back and casually glanced down the bar at Sherlock. She frowned when she saw him staring at someone behind her.

"Anna?" a voice said from behind her.

…_Showtime…_

Kylie turned and smiled only to see Harringer standing there behind her.

_Damn._

"Mr. Harringer," Kylie said in surprise, "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I am so sorry my dear. Your date called me and told me he will unfortunately be unable to make it," he told her apologetically, "I have to say, you look absolutely ravishing though. His loss," he told her as he looked her up and down appreciatively.

"Thank you," Kylie said as she fought not to gag.

"He asked me to apologize profusely for his rudeness and wondered if you could make it tomorrow night?'

"Of course," Kylie told him with a smile, "I look forward to meeting him."

Harringer smiled at her before typing a few things on his phone, "Now then," he said as he pocketed his phone once more, "I would hate for you to have a wasted night and go home looking that ravishing when the night is still young. How about we get a drink and further discuss your career with Becker Modeling?"

"Of course, sit down."

"I would prefer if we went to another spot. I promise you, you will adore it."

"Go to another bar? Why don't we just stay here?" Kylie questioned before she could stop herself.

"This place is quieter. Come now."

Harringer held out his hand. Kylie hesitated, but took it as she slid off the stool and grabbed her things.

Kylie sent Sherlock a fleeting look as she allowed Harringer to steer her out of the restaurant.

Sherlock ground his teeth as he watched Harringer's hand on her low back begin to drop a little low. Sherlock turned and looked at Lestrade who was already getting up.

_Good, Graham was on the same page. _

They strolled out of the restaurant, staying a comfortable distance behind Harringer and Kylie, falling into step in silence.

"Don't let her out of your sight," Charlie's voice said, flowing through the earpiece, "I have a GPS tracker in her shoe, but I don't want to risk it."

"Like we do?" Lestrade muttered.

Sherlock remained silent and focused as they rounded a corner, walking down the next block.

"I'm coming down from the other side," Charlie informed them, "Well meet in the middle. John will run command from the van with Irene."

"Hurry, there's a crowd coming," Lestrade said as they began to weave through people, struggling to keep and eye on Kylie.

_Come on Ky, delay him._

*** #( *#) (**

"I thought you said it was down the street," Kylie said as she began to become wary of the situation.

"I forgot," Harringer told her, "they moved just a bit farther away. I hope you don't mind walking. It's a beautiful night."

Kylie looked around as a large crowd they were suddenly around began to make more and more noise.

"American football championships," Harringer explained as he watched them as well, "The Chargers are going to the Superbowl."

The farther down the street they went, the more dense and rowdy the street tended to get.

_She had to get out of this. Her gut was telling her to run. _

"Its not much further," Harringer told her, sensing her unease.

%#$

"Where in the hell are they going?" Lestrade muttered to Sherlock.

Sherlock didn't answer as he walked faster to try to close the gap slightly between them. They had pushed their way through the crowed and hand managed to stay within 100 yards of them. Harringer and Kylie stop outside of a building. Harringer opened the door and urged Kylie inside before glancing behind him as he did.

_At least it's a public place_

Lestrade and Sherlock approached what they found to be another restaurant as Charlie rounded the corner.

"They go in there?" Charlie asked as he jogged to meet them.

"No we just got hungry," Sherlock snapped as he walked into the restaurant.

Charlie gave Lestrade a look of annoyance before following the English Detective in.

The man paused, not seeing any sign of Harringer or Kylie in the busy restaurant.

"Where are they?" Charlie asked, "They just walked in?"

Sherlock looked around panic filling him.

_Where had he taken her?_

He was able to clear the worries in his mind for a moment to notice the kitchen door was swinging slightly.

_Kitchen._

Sherlock sprinted through the restaurant, followed closely by Charlie and Lestrade as the waiters began yelling at them. Ignoring their cries they ran into the kitchen only to see chaos.

Broken plates, food, water, and shelving covered the floor. It looked as if someone had thrown things off the shelves in a struggle. Lestrade stopped and looked around as Charlie and Sherlock raced out the only other door and into the alleyway, praying that Kylie was still there.

Sherlock felt his heart and brain and every other organ in his body drop into his stomach when he saw writing on the wall.

REDRUM

Charlie stopped in silence next to him.

"That son of a bitch has her," Charlie whispered, "But Kylie can fight, she would have fought back. She wouldn't have given in that quick! It doesn't make sense."

"You may want to see this,"Lestrade said as he walked out into the alleyway holding something in a handkerchief.

He pulled it back to expose a syringe, "The son of a bitch drugged her, that's why the kitchen was a mess. She fought back the best she could, but the bastard has her."

Sherlock didn't say a word. Panic, anger, and worry filled him to the point where he only had one thought on his mind.

_Harringer had her. If he harmed her, he would pay._

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	18. Chapter 18

**You guys are the greatest. Thank you for all of your support! A huge thanks to Smaug the Golden (he sort of is, huh?), CaaRehme (they will come back soon… maybe… :D and thanks love!), AnimeWriter45 (Aw, you are too kind!), FunkyBubble14 (thank you love!), thelastsuperwholockian (thank you so much! Your kind words always mean a lot. I am always worried about Sherlock in love, so thank you!), PopStarJ01 (:D) , Eirithdiel (I love cliffhangers.), LibbyTaylor (Thank you my dear!), Shell8141 (thank you for your support and understanding!) Also thank you to everyone who commented and became new readers, as well as for their kind words when I was on my Hiatus. I love you all! **

**Short chapter… Hope you guys enjoy!**

It was dark.

Pitch black all around her.

She could feel something moving. No, wait… was she moving? How was she moving?

She tried to think. Everything was fuzzy as her mind was a blur.

_What had happened?_

Kylie opened her eyes and found that she was on a bed in a dark room. Her eyes hadn't adjusted quite yet as she tried to wrack her mind to figure out where she was. The smell of rust and wood polish filled her senses. She shut her eyes as she tried to make sense of the movement. It felt as if she were bobbing up and down. She wasn't sure if it was her mind, or if the movement was real.

_How the hell did she get here?_

She tried to move her arms, only to find that they had been bound tightly along with her legs.

"No," Kylie whispered to herself as memories of the last time she was bound to a bed.

_Thomas breathing down her neck as his hand wrapped its self tighter around her windpipe as he forced himself into her body. _

She felt her breathing increase as she shut her eyes and tried to force the memory out of her mind.

_Think Kylie! What happened?_

_She had been walking with Harringer. She had to keep her cover. She couldn't get out of this, but she needed to. Her gut was telling her to run. _

_That bad feeling began to grow as they stepped outside of the restaurant. _

"_Here we are," Harringer had said as he opened the door and put a hand on her low back, pushing her inside before she could object. _

"_Let's go out on the patio, shall we?" he said as his hand dropped a little lower, its just through the kitchen."_

_Kylie fought the urge to turn around and kick him in the scrotum. _

"_Hello Mr. Harringer," the waiter told them as they walked through the restaurant, "Good to have you back, sir."_

"_Thank you, Mark," Harringer told him as they walked towards the kitchen, "We will be requiring a little, privacy…"_

"_Of course sir," the waiter said as he left them alone._

_Privacy?_

_Kylie reached the kitchen door as her phone went off. She pulled it out to see that she had a text. _

_Irene Alder_

_She frowned as she quickly opened the message. _

_Its Harringer. Get out. NOW._

_Kylie hid her phone from view as she made to turn around, but before she even had a chance, a needle entered the side of her neck. _

_Adrenaline surged through her veins as she felt her muscles begin to go lax and the room to spin. She flailed in self-defense, making connection somehow with Harringer. She grabbed everything around her, trying to make it to the door and run. She heard items crashing all around her. _

_Someone would hear it. Someone would help. _

_Then everything went black. _

Kylie opened her eyes to the darkened room, trying to squint at the bindings on her legs.

They were thick and strong like rope, but soft… soft like silk.

…almost like a silk cord.

_That would make sense. The ripper never bond people. The soft think cords would keep his victims restrained, yet without leaving the marks. _

The door opened, sending in a stream of light before the person entering flipped on the lights, temporarily blinding her.

Heavy footsteps entered the room as Kylie grimaced, desperately trying to get her eyes to adjust. The person set something down as they stood in front of her.

"Well hello, Dr. Gibbs."

Kylie blinked a few times, finally able to open her eyes long enough to see Harringer standing in front of her with a grin plastered on his face.

Kylie frowned, looking at him with confusion.

Harringer sighed and rolled his eyes, "Oh, don't be surprised that I know your name. No one was going to by that Anna Wiley crap. We met a few years ago. Don't you remember?"

Kylie wracked her drug-hazed brain.

_Had she seen him before?_

"You and that boyfriend of yours…. On vacation… in Cabo?" Harringer said with a smile.

Then it all clicked.

_Thomas… he knew Thomas._

Thomas had taken her to Cabo a year before they had broken up. He had already begun acting strange. As far as she knew, he had still been working for the CIA. He had surprised her with the vacation as an apology for working too much. They had been at the pool, when Harringer (though that most likely wasn't what he went by then) had approached Thomas and whisked him off for "business" leaving Kylie, alone, on her romantic vacation. Thomas as returned to make it up to her, but Kylie never really understood where they had gone in the first place.

"You are one of Thomas's CIA associates," Kylie muttered as she put it all together.

Harringer laughed. "You could say that." He smiled like that cat who ate the canary as he placed the duffle bag on the table and unzipped it.

"You worked together in Cabo."

"And Russia before that," he told her.

Kylie froze. It all made sense now. Russia is where Moriarty recruited Thomas. It would only make sense if that was where Harringer met him as well.

Harringer laughed as he watched her expression change.

"And now all the dots are connected," he laughed, "I'm shocked you didn't put it together sooner. You have the reputation for being more than just a pretty face, but I see that that rumor wasn't as true as I believed it to be."

Kylie just stared at him as he pulled a variety of knives out of his bag, setting them on the table as a surgeon prepping for a procedure.

"Its too bad I'm going to have to slit your throat," he told her, staring at her with mild curiosity.

"Why me?" Kylie asked breathlessly, "You kill women who prostitute themselves, I didn't."

Harringer laughed once more, "What do you call leaving the love of your life, crying rape, and banging the first guy you can find?"

Bile began to rise in Kylie's throat at the mention of Thomas referred to as the 'love of her life'.

_You used to think he was…_

"Didn't take you long to move on, did it you little slut?"

"You know nothing," Kylie told him, "You just heard the lies Thomas told you."

Harringer didn't react as he looked down at the rows of knives, surgical instruments, and even a barber's blade; lightly skimming them all with his finger as he took his time, selecting his favorite.

He picked one up, twirling it in his fingers, watching the light glint off of it.

"Sweetheart, Thomas told me everything I need to know. And I owe him my life."

***#&amp;( *#() )#( )**

Sherlock paced outside the open door of the van, while everyone else was inside. They were frantically talking and worrying, but he couldn't be a part of that. He needed quiet.

He needed to find her.

"Harringer, it's a cover name," Charlie said as he looked him up on the computer, "He has a whole life story. Birth certificate, school registration, everything. This cover is good… too good."

"He said he was old friends with Thomas, right?" Charlie asked as he put it all together.

"Yes, he used to be CIA," Sherlock said as he paced outside the van, overhearing the conversation as he strolled paced the open door, "That was rather obvious and already established. Stop wasting time we don't have."

Everyone looked at him for a moment before Charlie turned back to the computer screen.

"Let me call my source at the CIA," Charlie said as he went to the front of the van to make the call.

John sighed and glanced at his friend worriedly pacing outside the van.

"I don't get it," Lestrade said, shaking his head, "We are looking for a medical man, so how on earth did he have the access and the knowledge to use and get ahold of the ketamine?"

John shrugged as he kept watching his friend, not hearing a response from Irene. He had never seen his friend this on edge before. Sure he had been relatively manic when Kylie had been kidnapped before, but then there was Moriarty's game to play. A plan. A way to get her back. But now…. now there was none of that.

They were at a dead end. They knew nothing about Harringer. Kylie had been missing for an hour and a half and they were still sitting in the same place, stuck in the same spot with no evidence at hand or leads.

John knew his friend was frightened for the woman's well being, but part of him wondered if Sherlock's worries were platonic for a friend, or because he loved the missing woman.

"So my source told me that Harringer was a cover the CIA developed for him int eh late 90's when he was going deep undercover in Russia…" Charlie announced as he walked into the back of the van once more.

BANG

Everyone jumped as Sherlock hit the back of the van, hard, in frustration.

"Connected, everything is CONNECTED," Sherlock rambled angrily as he shook his hand in slight pain.

Charlie frowned, "What is he going on about?" he asked as he looked at John for an explanation.

"He just… does that sometimes," John lied, covering for his manic friend.

Lestrade gave him a strange look as Irene just watched him curiously.

"Turns out Harringer's real name is Nathan Dawson. He was Dr. Harringer to the Russian Mob."

"His cover was a doctor, giving him the medical knowledge that he needed," John said as he ran a hand over his face.

"Not to mention the murder weapon," Charlie added in, "He had medical tools. Most likely surgical knives and the barber's razor that the Russian Mob favorited."

"He have a history with prostitutes?" Lestrade asked.

Charlie turned and began typing into the computer, "Dawson's mother was arrested 32 times for prostitution and Dawson himself was put into foster care multiple times."

Lestrade let out a low whistle, "God knows that would drive anyone to kill."

Charlie kept typing, running the name of Nathan Dawson through the data base.

"Looks like he dropped the name Dawson a while back, but he still does have an apartment in that name on Grand Street."

Sherlock hopped back in the van, shutting the door quickly behind him.

Everyone stared at him for a moment.

"What are you waiting for?" Sherlock snapped, "An invitation?"

Charlie scoffed and got up, hopping back in the driver's seat at the group set off, hoping a clue to where Kylie was await in Harringer's apartment.

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	19. Chapter 19

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The van skidded to a halt outside the Downtown apartment. The group quickly clambered out as Charlie drew his weapon, bending down and pulling his backup out of the leg of his pant. He turned and handed it to Lestrade.

"You just found this weapon, right?" Charlie told him as he gave him a look.

"Because you cannot legally give me a weapon? Yep I found it," Lestrade said as he took the weapon and led the group into the building.

Sherlock tried to calm his body, remain rational, but every inch of his body wanted to sprint into the apartment and rip Harringer limb from limb before he had the chance to touch Kylie once more.

"Stay back," Charlie muttered as they paused outside of the door.

Sherlock didn't move. He just kept staring at the door.

_Harringer had Kylie. _

"Sherlock," John said in a harsh whisper, pulling Sherlock back against the wall next to Irene as they all prepared to enter the apartment.

"HARRINGER FBI!" Charlie called before he kicked the door open, busting though the lock.

He and Lestrade rushed into the apartment, Sherlock made to follow but before he could, John slammed him back into the wall, giving his friend a sharp look for his stupidity.

_Please let Kylie be here…. Alive… _

"Clear!" Charlie yelled from inside.

Before John could stop him, Sherlock tore out of his grasp and rushed into the house, looking around wildly for any trace of Kylie.

It was as if time slowed down, sounds got quieter as his heartbeat pounded through his ears.

_Kylie…_

"There's no sign of her," Lestrade said bitterly, "The psychopath as her and we have nothing."

Sherlock felt his heart drop into his stomach.

_Nothing, they had nothing…_

**&amp;# *(#() ) #**

_Something. _

_Anything. _

_Please…_

"There is nothing here," Charlie said in frustration for about the fifth time in the hour and a half they had been tearing apart the apartment. A call had been made into forensics but they wouldn't be able to be there for another hour.

Sherlock sat on Harringer's laptop as he searched furiously, ignoring the looks he was getting from Irene who sat on the couch, as well as Lestrade and John who were helping Charlie tear apart the apartment.

_Something. There had to be something here._

_Trace. _

_A Clue. _

_It was a game. _

"You can't trace her cell phone?" Lestrade asked as he dug through the closet.

"He's smart. It's either off or he smashed it along with the GPS tracker in her shoe," Charlie told them as he tossed some random mail on the counter in frustration after looking through it.

John sighed. The tension in the room was nearly intolerable. Everyone knew what was at risk, and the two people who were usually most calm in these situations and were the best at playing the games, were silent. That alone multiplied the tension in the room. A silent and furious Sherlock not spitting out deductions and calling everyone an idiot worried John, but it was also worrying as Irene Adler had suddenly become a meek and silent woman, sitting worriedly on the couch. The strange behavior was enough to worry the rest of the people in the room, but on top of Kylie missing… that was a whole new type of pressure.

"Find anything in the search history?" Charlie asked as he dug further through the man's large stack of mail.

SLAM

Sherlock slammed his hands down on the desk in frustration, causing everyone in the room to jump at the sudden, loud noise.

John looked at him, usually when he threw fits like this he began ranting on and on about something. But right now, he just remained silent, staring at the screen as he breathed heavily. John knew Sherlock was at a loss of what to do, he had literally nothing to go on, less than what he usually did. The killer changed his location, his victims, they way he found his victims, everything. He had literally nothing, and everything in his life was at risk.

John put a hand on Sherlock's shoulder before walking into Harringer's bedroom to look for more evidence.

"We'll find her," Lestrade reassured his friend as he continued to look through the closet he was searching through.

The room fell silent for a few moments, before Charlie had the courage to comment.

"Wow, this guy really is a douche bag. He has a membership to yacht club monthly…"

Sherlock's head snapped towards him as the wheels began turning in the consulting detective's brain.

"Say that again."

Charlie looked at him in surprise, "He just got a membership to yacht club monthly?"

Sherlock stared at him for half a second before he turned back to the computer and began typing wildly.

"A yacht, a boat, a ship," he mumbled, "Oh, it all makes sense now. Of course! Why didn't I see it before?"

"Do you know where she is?" Charlie asked as he dropped the mail and rushed over to the screen.

"Its so obvious!"

"How is it obvious?" Lestrade asked, "It's a rich guy who liked to spend millions on boats?"

"A boat! He has her on a boat, don't you see?"

"Just because he has a membership to a magazine?" Charlie asked.

Sherlock groaned impatiently, "No! Don't you see! Harringer has been trying to establish a false identity, which means getting rid of pretty much everything that he knew from his time in the CIA. And yet he is looking into boats?"

"Yeah…still don't get it…" Lestrade said.

Charlie closed his eyes with realization, "The Russian mob killed most of their victims on fishing boats and dumped the blood and body into the ocean."

Sherlock looked at him.

_This guy may be smarter than he seemed. But you had to be smart to keep up with Kylie as a partner. _

"Precisely," Sherlock said turning back to the screen and pointing at the search history, "Look at his search history."

Lestrade shrugged, "Yeah, so. He looked at a marina online to put his big expensive boat."

"Yeah, but that specific marina isn't high class. It's probably the cheapest one out there. It's near a shipping yard," Charlie said as he pulled out his phone, dialing for backup.

"You find her?" John asked as he walked out of the bedroom.

"Yeah, come on," Lestrade said as Sherlock was already out the door.

Lestrade paused and looked at John, pointing to the couch.

"Where's Irene?"

***# (*#) (# **

Kylie froze as she saw Harringer slowly begin to approach her with the knife.

"Don't you dare touch me, you jackass," Kylie said as she fought as hard as she could against her restraints.

Harringer laughed, "Thomas told me you liked to be touched. Said you would beg and ache for him…"

"SHUT UP!" Kylie yelled, as anger surged through her veins.

_Use it. Use it to get out of here_

"Kales, you should cooperate," Harringer condoned her as he stood over her, "Resisting is just going to make it harder."

"Don't call me Kales," she spat as she worked on the knot holding her right hand in place.

Harringer smiled as his eyes surveyed her body, "I'll call you whatever I want," he said cooly as he rand the cold blade over her neck and up her cheek, leaving a small trail of blood in its wake.

"That's why you are here. You are just a whore, just like the rest of them. So eager to ditch what is good for you and move on to the first thing you can find that will fuck you…"

"Is that why you killed them?" Kylie asked, trying to get Harringer to keep talking to give her more time, setting aside her anger at the last comment, "The models? You think they are all just whores when you are the one who put them in that situation?"

Harringer let out a barking laugh at her remark.

"Its true," Kylie said, "They just want a job. You forced them into this kind of life. Told them that it would help them get a modeling job."

"They were sluts They are all sluts," Harringer said bitterly as he swiped the knife over her shoulder, cutting a strap of her dress off with one swipe, "They were asking for it."

"What happened to you?" Kylie asked as Harringer just looked her up and down. She almost had the knot undone, she just needed to buy more time. "You used to be a product of society, a fairy tale ending to horror of a childhood. You did good for your country."

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GOOD IN THIS COUNTRY!" Harringer yelled putting his knife through Kylie's left shoulder. Kylie bit her lip to keep from screaming in pain as the knife stuck in her shoulder.

"I spied and fought for six years of my life, for what?" Harringer asked her, "So that more people can die because of whores like you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kylie asked through gritted teeth.

"This world, this whole dark world, is run off of sex, money, and power. Sex drives all of the violence, dirt and filth in this world. That's why people are killed, over sluts like you."

"What changed you? Why did you switch so fast? You can be charming?" Kylie said

_Almost there…_

_Ignore the pain._

_Ignore it!_

Harringer laughed as he pulled the knife out of her shoulder, "All thanks to the CIA. At least they were good for something.

Then Kylie heard it footsteps up to the door. Someone was here, someone was coming. Harringer froze, he heard it too.

He turned as the door opened and Irene walked in.

Kylie froze, Irene looked… not herself. She was meek, small, looking as if she were about to cry as she refused to look anyone in the eye as she carried a small black bag into the room.

"Irene, get out of here! Run!" Kylie yelled at her.

_Why did she come here? She was the one who told her it was Harringer in the first place_.

"Oh Miss Adler, thank you for joining us," Harringer said as he turned around.

Irene couldn't look Kylie in the eye as she began to shake, holding out the small black bag obediently.

"Here's the rest of the Ketamine. I was able to sneak it out of your apartment before they found it," Irene said in a soft meek voice.

"Good girl," Harringer said as he took the bag from her, "Who knew a dominatrix would be so good at being submissive?" Harringer paused as her trailed a finger up her neck, "But that's what I told you to do."

Kylie's body was numb in shock. She knew she shouldn't be surprised, but over the last week or so she had seen the good in Irene Adler. She hadn't expected this…

Irene's eyes met Kylies, looking at her, pleading for forgiveness.

"You were helping him?" Kylie asked in a breathless voice.

"I had to Kylie," Irene told her, pleading, "It was either you or me."

"That's all the chit chat we need for now," Harringer said as he tossed the bag aside, "You can leave now Miss Adler."

Irene stared at Kylie, trying to silently communicate something that Kylie couldn't understand. She nodded and left the room, leaving Kylie and Harringer alone once more.

The ache of betrayal ran through Kylie, covering up the trauma to her shoulder.

_She had trusted her. _

_She had finally forgiven her. _

_She had gotten played._

Harringer turned back to Kylie and picked up the knife once more, "Now, where should we begin?" he asked.

Kylie felt the rope slip as the knot had finally been conquered.

_She had to play this smart._

She waited for her opportunity as Harringer approached her. Harringer raised the knife as Kylie saw her chance. She swung her fist as hard as she could at him, knocking the knife from his hands.

"BITCH!" Harringer yelled at her as she lunged to untie her other arm. She wasn't quite quick enough as Harringer's fists connected with her face, knocking her head back against the corner of the bed, creating a gash in her head.

Kylie tried to sit up as she felt dizzy.

_Fight back!_

Before she had a chance, his hands went around her throat, cutting off her air supply.

She struggled against him, as flashbacks to Thomas ran through her mind.

_This was it. _

_She was going to die._

Her vision was blacking out around her as she struggled to have her last conscious thought.

_Sherlock… That kiss. The elation…_

Suddenly, Harringer screamed and let go as he fell to the floor and off of the bed. Kylie coughed, gasping for air as she felt someone fumbling with the restraints

"Come on dear, we don't have much time," Irene said as she untied her.

Kylie looked at her for a moment before untying her left hand.

While untying herself, Kylie blinked multiple times, she was seeing double once more.

_She must have a concussion…_

She tried her hardest to focus when she noticed some movement on the floor.

"IRENE!" Kylie yelled but it was too late. Harringer had sat up and shoved a knife through Irene's stomach. Kylie watched in horror as Irene fell to the floor, dead.

Kylie blinked and tried to focus, she couldn't see clearly, everything in the room was spinning. Harringer began to pull himself up as he pulled the knife from Irene's lifeless body. Kylie tugged furiously at her last restraint; the damn knot wasn't coming undone as Harringer came at her once more.

Kylie kicked him, landing a foot near his chest, knocking him to the floor as she heard footsteps rushing down the hallway before the door burst open.

"FBI!" she heard Charlie yell as the room began spinning wildly.

"Kylie!" she heard a familiar voice say. She couldn't see faces now, just shapes.

_She really must have bashed her head._

"Kylie," The voice said again as the smell of clean soap came over her as strong hands cradled her.

"Jesus, is that Irene?" She heard another voice ask.

"Help her," Kylie said quietly, "She saved my life."

"Kylie, stay awake. Just stay awake." The voice holding her said as a hand stroked her head before it pulled away from the stinging head wound.

"Where are the hell are the medics?" the same voice yelled before Kylie shut her eyes and everything went black once more.

**I wish I had had more time with this chapter to make it better, but I wanted to get you guys the next part of the story!**

**Review?**


	20. Chapter 20

**You guys are the greatest! Thanks so much to all of my amazing readers! I have a lot of stress in my life at the moment and reading the amazing reviews I get always puts a smile on my face, so thank you!**

**Just a reminder… this story is rated M for a reason and not advised for those under the age of 18… legally… **

**Just a reminder ****. **

**Enjoy!**

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Sherlock sighed as he sat in the hospital, next to Kylie's bed. He ached all over from sitting so long in this uncomfortable chair.

_They had been here for far too long._

He glanced over at John, sitting in the chair on the opposite side of the bed. He shifted uncomfortably as well as he read the paper, obviously feeling the same way about the damn chairs as he did.

Sherlock looked back at the woman in the bed. He wasn't a religious man; he didn't believe in God, a higher power, or Mother Nature. He believed in science, but he found himself praying to Science that Kylie Gibbs would wake up soon.

She had been unconscious for nearly 36 hours now. The doctors had claimed that her injuries were not as bad as they seemed. The stab wound to her shoulder needed time and monitoring, but the doctors believed she could heal without requiring more surgery. It was the concussion and hairline skull fracture that they were worried about.

John had told him that the type of concussion she had received was about as bad as concussions got. The swelling and injury to her brain had kept her unconscious this long, but the doctors seemed to be positive about her progress with the scans she had had every ten hours. They assured him that it was only a matter of time before she woke up.

_Died. She had almost died. He had almost lost her… for good. _

Sherlock inhaled sharply out of reflex as he pushed the uncomfortable thought out of his mind. His mind however, had a different agenda as it took him back to when he had run onto the boat. It was a miracle that they had gotten there in time. A second later, and Kylie would be downstairs in the morgue with Irene.

They had arrived on the Marina and began looking for a needle in a haystack. They had no idea what the boat looked like, or was… they only had hope and conjecture. It was only when they had heard Kylie scream Irene's name that they had been able to find them. The SWAT team had swarmed inside the cabin. Sherlock had shoved his way in with them, against orders. He hadn't cared. At that moment in times, his biggest worry had been getting to Kylie.

Guilt filled him as he reflected back on the moment. He hadn't cared at that initial moment that Irene was lying dead on the floor. His one and only thought was 'please let Kylie be alive'.

_If he had cleared his mind… if he hadn't been so preoccupied with worry, he would have found them. Irene Adler may still be alive if he had. _

He didn't do feelings. He swore he didn't feel sometimes; but the moment he had arrived on that boat his heart had dropped into his stomach, his blood pressure elevated substantially, and his heart had stopped beating all together when he saw Irene dead on the floor and Kylie bloody, half-conscious, and tied to the bed. It had scared him, scared him more than anything he ever imagined. Sherlock Holmes had stood up to criminal masterminds, psychopaths, mass murders, and pretty much anything you could imagine… but the sight of the woman he loved hurt and bloodied scared him more than anything he had experienced.

Sherlock stiffened as if he had been struck by lightning.

_Had he really just thought that?  
_

…_the woman I …love?_

Love. What a despicable word. Love was a dangerous disadvantage. That had been proven to him again and again. Love and feelings hazed logic. Irene was the perfect example of that. He had beaten her at her own game she so expertly played because of emotion.

_But then why did it feel so good to have her next to him again?_

Sherlock fought not to roll his eyes at himself. He hadn't had these thoughts in ages, but once he set eyes on the auburn-haired anthropologist, the feelings had came flooding back.

He didn't understand it. He never had. John had tried to explain it to him many times, but stopped after Sherlock began reading his emails to Mary in a public domain. John kept telling him he was in love with Kyleigha Gibbs, but Sherlock knew he was stronger than to succumb to "normal feelings".

He looked down at Kylie's unconscious body lying on the bed. She shifted slightly, causing him to smile.

John noticed the movement as well.

"She's waking up," he commented as he noted the heart rate monitor.

Sherlock felt himself grab her hand.

_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?_

_Being pitiful, that's what. _

_Shut up. _

Kylie squirmed a little more as consciousness began to overtake her body.

"Kylie?" Sherlock heard himself say softly, urging her to open her eyes.

_Why are you holding her hand?_

_I don't know, the same reason your heart is racing?_

…_._

Kylie's eyes fluttered open as she blinked a few times, looking around the room in slight confusion. Her eyes finally settled on Sherlock.

"Hey," she said quietly as she sighed and closed her eyes once more, fighting the grogginess, "Look who decided not to go jump off a building this round in the hospital."

John snorted with bitter laughter, as Sherlock grinned.

"Dying was so three years ago," he commented lightly.

Kylie laughed and regretted it immediately as she began coughing violently. She made to sit up, but John and Sherlock gently prevented her as her shoulder was still bandaged and stitched.

Her coughing subsided as John poured her some water, gently helping her drink.

She thanked him quietly as she looked down at her arm, the memories of how she had gotten there slowly began coming back.

The cuts all over her arms and body.

_The knife._

The bruises that now decorated her wrists and neck.

_The restraints._

The way her throat hurt every time she tried to swallow.

_His hand clamping around it. _

Her shoulder in a sling.

The pounding in her head.

Irene.

_Irene. _

"Irene, did she…?"

Sherlock was silent. His eyes just dropped to the bed, toying with Kylie's fingers once more.

"She didn't make it," John told her quietly, seeing Sherlock's reaction.

Kylie looked down, letting the loss of Irene Adler hit her.

"She saved my life," she said quietly, "She was working for Harringer. She brought him the Ketamine and told me that he had given her an ultimatum; her life or mine. I thought she had left me to die, but she came back… she saved my life. She tried to help me escape."

Kylie felt a few tears run down her face, stinging slightly as she went to wipe them away, feeling a cut and steri-strips holding the cut together.

The hand holding hers, squeezed her hand in support, causing her to smile and look down at it. She looked up at the man holding it.

"I'm sorry Sherlock. I couldn't save her," she told him quietly as her voice broke.

Sherlock didn't say anything. He was too afraid to speak. Instead he just nodded and began toying with her fingers, trying to push away the guilt and emotion he felt.

A heavy silence took over the room until Lestrade and Charlie walked in a few moments later.

"Hey! Look who decided to join the living once more!" Charlie said with a smile as he walked in.

Kylie smiled weakly at him as he came over and kissed her cheek. Lestrade did the same, before pulling back and smiling at her.

"Good to see you are awake, Ky."

"Thanks," Kylie said groggily as she still willed her head from not pounding, "Did someone contact Irene's next of kin?"

"Irene doesn't have any family, but we were able to get a hold of her PA," Lestrade told her solemnly, slightly taken aback that that was nearly the first thing out of her mouth, "She's on her way over."

Kylie nodded slightly.

"And Harringer?"

"Being held at the FBI right now," Charlie said as he plopped down in the chair next to John, "I still cant believe it was him."

Kylie smirked and closed her eyes, trying to push away the pain, "You never do."

"The one thing I don't get though, "Lestrade commented as he leaned up against the wall, still not comfortable with the closure on the case, "Harringer was not the voice I heard on the phone."

The room went silent and all the heads in the room immediately turned to him.

"What do you mean?" John asked, "You think there's another psychopath out there?"

"I don't know!" Lestrade said, "I'm pretty goo with voices and I know that the voice on the phone, telling me to bring Sherlock, wasn't Harringer."

Kylie frowned. That couldn't be right. Harringer worked alone. He had only recruited Irene for the drugs and information…

Then it clicked…

"Son of a bitch…" Kylie muttered.

Sherlock looked at her.

"You know who it was?"

"Its not another killer. It was just a prank."

"A prank?"

"Yeah, someone at the FBI who overheard it," Kylie quickly lied, hoping she wasn't showing it.

"Who?" Charlie asked, extremely confused.

"Uh….Young, in forensics," Kylie lied.

_The last thing she needed right now was Sherlock throwing a fit over the caller's identity._

"Who the hell is Young?" Charlie asked.

"Some new transfer. Recruited him from Britain," Kylie made up.

"We know everyone in forensics…"

Kylie threw him a look, telling him to shut up.

Charlie gave her a puzzled look, but decided to drop it, shutting up immediately.

Everyone else in the room looked between the two of them, lost in the dynamic of their relationship.

BEEP

Charlie gave Kylie one last bewildered look before pulling out his phone, "I gotta head back to the office. Finish up the paperwork," he said while he stood up, making to walk out of the room. Before he left, he paused by the door, thinking about something for a moment.

"Oh, maybe this is a good time to tell you… because Im leaving and you are restrained to a bed… We are up a shit creek with Hastings and I may have called your Dad."

"YOU WHAT?" Kylie yelled as her eyes went wide.

"Bye!" Charlie said cheekily before he disappeared out the door.

"CHARLIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Lestrade raised an eyebrow at her as Kylie took a deep breath, running a hand over her face.

"I take it you didn't want your Dad to know?"

"Not unless you want my father storming down here and kicking my ass publically for going undercover in the first place."

"I take it this is a bad time?"

The sound of a new voice, caused everyone to stop and turn, only to find Mycroft Holmes standing in the doorway, a small politician's polite smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Sherlock asked, slightly outraged his brother had made a sudden appearance.

"Business with the US Navy," Mycroft informed him, "Not anything we need to discuss."

John rolled his eyes.

_Always with the power complex._

"Glad to see you are awake Miss Gibbs."

"Thank you Mycroft."

"I can arrange for Miss Adler's body to be transported back to London if need be," Mycroft offered.

Sherlock just kept glaring at his brother.

"What is the real reason you are here, Mycroft?" Sherlock asked.

Mycroft smiled at him, "I heard the unfortunate news about Miss Adler and that Kylie was here in the hospital so I came to see how she was doing…"

"Since when do you call her Kylie?" Sherlock argued as he began to get protective, for what reason he didn't know.

…_you know…._

Kylie saw John smirk out of the corner of her eye as she reached over and subtly tried to squeeze Sherlock's hand, trying to get him to relax slightly.

"Hey, why don't you guys go to the hotel, shower, eat something and get some sleep? God knows you both look like you haven't done any of those things in days."

Sherlock looked at her. It was in the moment that Kylie could see that he did not want to leave.

"I'll still be here when you get back. No offense, but you lot look like crap."

Lestrade laughed and stood up, "Look who's calling the kettle black."

John chuckled as well as he stood, "Come on Sherlock. She's right. We'll be back in an hour."

Sherlock stared at her, not breaking eye contact, as if he were pleading with her to let him stay.

"Go," she said smiling at him softly.

He sighed, standing up and slowly leaving the room with John and Lestrade, leaving just her and Mycroft in the room.

Kylie looked over at him as he sat down in the chair his younger brother had previously occupied.

"You're a rat bastard, you know that?" Kylie asked him as she fiddled with the morphine pump, trying to turn it down from the bare minimum it was at.

"And why is that Miss Gibbs?" Mycroft asked.

"You are the one who called Lestrade."

Mycroft paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Bullshit," Kylie countered immediately, "You were the one who showed up at my office, tried to get me to reestablish contact with Sherlock, and when I refused, you took your chance. You saw that the Ripper case had been reopened, or overheard it as Charlie and I walked in. Let me guess? You tapped the phone lines of a secure Federal building? Heard me ask Lestrade not to bring Sherlock or get him involved? Then I'm assuming you had one of your lower level flunkies call and tell Lestrade to bring him… all so your little brother wouldn't be alone and he would have a built in babysitter when John moved out."

Mycroft smiled at her, "That wasn't the reason. You really are a clever, aren't you?"

Kylie smiled at him.

"You really do want Sherlock and I to get back together, don't you? That's why you came to my office. You knew John was moving out, but it wasn't just about that."

Mycroft smiled at her before dropping his gaze, "You make my brother genuinely happy and you are one of the few people who can save him from himself."

Kylie smiled at him. Sherlock despised his brother for some reason that Kylie had no clue of. Kylie had always thought that Mycroft had other agendas other than actually helping Sherlock, but this made her think otherwise.

"Are you considering moving back to London?" he asked.

…_. And back to his agenda…._

"Sherlock asked me to move into Baker Street," Kylie told him quietly.

The Iceman's face broke into one of blatant shock; a look Kylie had never seen before on the elder Holmes.

Kylie laughed bitterly.

"Yeah, I know. That was about the same look I had on my face when he asked me."

"So are you two…?"

Kylie shook her head, "We aren't back together. I just think he asked me so he wouldn't be alone."

"I can tell you, that is not the case."

Kylie shrugged and shook her head.

"I think it is, Mycroft. I really don't think we can get back together and have everything go back to how it was. I have a life here. I'm not just going to drop it on a whim just for him to pull away from me again. I love him, but I cant go through that again."

Mycroft stared at her for a moment, choosing his words wisely.

"My brother is very particular in who he chooses to be around. He had four people in his address book: John, Lestrade, myself, and you. That is it. The fact that he is still here after the case, holding your hand and refusing to leave your side, should be enough evidence that things have changed. You are more clever than that Miss Gibbs."

_Don't forget the fact that he kissed you…_

Kylie's heart fluttered at the memory, causing the heart monitor to beep loudly.

Mycroft smirk as he saw the physiological changes affect the young woman in front of him.

"Though he may not admit it, my brother has allowed you to enter his life once more. He cares for you deeply," he told her as he stood up and made to leave, "You have a much greater effect on him than you believe."

And with that, Mycroft left the room, leaving Kylie with a lot of pain, confusion, and memories running through her mind as she debated what the next step in her life was.

**Thoughts, feelings, comments?**

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	21. Chapter 21

**You guys are the best ever! My apologies for not updating in a while! I hope you guys enjoy this one!**

Kylie sat alone in her room as internal debate raged wildly.

Her conversation with Mycroft had confused her even more. She had been on the fence before; torn between what her brain was telling her and what the rest of her was dying to do…. But now she was just more confused than ever.

Would she love to get back with Sherlock? Yes. But move in with him…? She highly doubted that Sherlock even thought of the meaning behind it. They were broken up. Yet he had asked her to move in with him..?

Really?

His ex-girlfriend moving in with him- platonically.

Kylie sighed and ran her good hand through her hair. She loved the man, that was obvious, but the question was… was it worth it? Kylie had left London to begin with because no matter what she did, or how much she apologized, or endured his anger with her, Sherlock had continued to be abrasive, rude, and intolerable. Most people would argue that that was Sherlock Holmes' default setting, but Kylie knew that wasn't true. She had seen the enduring side of the man, the part that cared. If you were lucky enough to be invited into his world, you actually got to see what a truly good person he was. Kylie knew deep down, underneath his anger with her, he cared, but the things that he said to her…

She had taken it willingly for a while; almost as a punishment and reprimand to herself for what she had did to him.

_He killed a man… for you. That's not something to be taken lightly. _

She sighed. She still didn't know if she had truly forgiven him for that. Killing another human being in cold blood…

_The secrets, the lying… sound familiar?_

_He's not Thomas. He isn't. _

_How would you know anyway?_

She shut her eyes. She didn't. She didn't know and that scared her to death. How could she trust anyone anymore? Thomas had ruined her for good.

She opened her eyes and leaned back, hating the debate raging through her body at the moment.

She was glad she had moved to San Diego. It was one of the best decisions she could have made. Though the first few months had been hard, she had grown stronger being away from him and London, and life began to go back to normal.

…_Are you really over him though?_

Kylie knew the answer to that question. She had been making progress, until he suddenly waltzed back into her life… all thanks to Mycroft.

The moment she had laid eyes on him, the feelings she had for the man returned with the force of a crashing train. She felt like she had been caught in a tsunami, drowning in an instant. She couldn't help it. She had tried to remember that it was over between the two of them, but then Sherlock had held her hand, pulled her into his chest, tried to protect her… kissed her…

She knew he was a complex human being. But she was getting mixed signals. Pulling her close and then pushing her away… it didn't make sense. He had thrown her aside like contaminated trash after holding her, only to ask her to move in with him…?

Kylie still had no idea why he had asked her. She doubted he was having feelings for her again. It was most likely all because John was moving out.

_God, that kiss though…_

Kylie groaned to herself. Never had a simple peck make her head spin as well as her weak at the knees.

_Then move in with him…_

_He most likely wasn't serious. It was a moment of panic… that was all. _

_Yes. That's all it was._

Kylie had settled on that answer as she heard yelling coming from down the hallway.

"SIR! YOU CANT GO IN THERE! SIR!" a nurse yelled before the door burst open.

Kylie suppressed a groan as her head throbbed, only to make it throb harder as Tony DiNozzo and her father entered the room, looking murderous.

"What in the HELL were you thinking Kyleigha?" her father half yelled as the nurse came into the room after them.

Kylie waved the nurse off and rubbed her temples, trying to make her headache go away, flinching as she pressed on a large cut.

"I'm fine Dad."

"Really? Because you look like crap," her father snapped at her.

"Ever-loving and supportive father," Kylie quipped as she sat up, wincing in pain as she did.

"Why in the hell would you walk into a date, knowing that a serial killer was targeting you? You want to be the star of a horror flick?" Tony asked her with bitter sarcasm as he crossed his arms in front of him.

Kylie rolled her eyes, "I don't need one of your lectures 'Professor DiNardo'. And we caught the guy. Catching bad guys is sort of in my job description."

She grabbed a jello the nurse had left for her and gave her older brother a sideways look of annoyance.

"We caught the guy, that's all that matters."

"At the cost of what, Kyleigha?" her father growled, "You walked into that endangering yourself and everyone on your team."

"That's rich coming from you," Kylie shot back as the pain of Irene's loss hit her, lashing out at her father, "I learned how to self-sacrifice from you."

Gibbs glowered at his daughter, walking over to the bed, putting his hands on the bed as he got closer to his daughter, dropping his voice to a low whisper.

"You go in with a plan. And you _never_ personally get involved in a case."

"Rule number 10," Kylie recited as she turned to glare at her father, hurt evident in her eyes, "I remembered. We were prepared. I missed it until it was too late."

"What happened?" Tony asked as he softened, seeing the look on her face as father and daughter glared at each other.

Kylie's eyes flitted over to Tony before back down to her Jello, silently toying with it for a moment.

"A woman died saving my life," she admitted quietly.

She heard her father sit on her bed, the anger leaving the room.

"At least the Ripper can't hurt anyone else."

Tony crossed the room, sitting in the chair that John had been occupying earlier.

"You weren't the one who took her life, Ky," he told her.

"I know."

"Putting yourself on the line wasn't the best play…"

"It was the only play we had, Tony," Kylie said glaring at him, "You weren't on the case. You don't know the details, so if you were looking to question someone's playbook, I recommend leaving the room."

Tony stared at her, not moving.

"Can I finish before you jump down my throat?"

Kylie glared.

"I was saying, putting yourself on the line wasn't the best play, but sometimes it is the only one. You had to stop him. Things happen you can't anticipate despite best measures. People die. But you weren't the one to pull the trigger."

Kylie softened before dropping her gaze.

"She was being blackmailed by the Ripper. She hid evidence. It was her or me. Despite that, she came back and saved me."

"She made her choice."

"Still…"

"Life is full of choices, bug," her father interjected, "You make them. She made them. Nothing you did or could have done would have changed that outcome."

Kylie sighed and looked down, knowing her family was right.

"Kylie, we brought you…" John began as he and Sherlock waltzed into the hospital room with a paper bag, both stopping slightly as they caught sight of the two other men in the room already.

"oh… Hello," John said as looked at them curiously.

Tony just raised an eyebrow.

"John, I don't believe you were ever officially introduced to my father, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and my brother Anthony DiNozzo?"

"Pleasure Doc," Gibbs said as he got up and walked to the door stopping to look at Sherlock.

"You, come on," he said before walking out of the room.

Kylie frowned as she watched the scene.

"Dad?"

Sherlock glanced at her before following her father out of the room and down the hall.

He heard Kylie protest from her bed, but he followed the older man towards the vending machines.

Sherlock stopped and watched as Gibbs put a few coins into the coffee machine and waited for the cup to fill.

The man then turned and stared at the younger man in silence. Sherlock raised an eyebrow, refusing to speak.

Gibbs smirked and picked up his coffee before locking his blue eyes onto him once more.

"I thought we had an understanding," Gibbs told him softly.

Sherlock didn't respond. Just kept staring at him.

"You were going to look after my daughter. Keep her safe. Make sure she didn't get hurt," Gibbs told him as he took a step closer to the detective.

"She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself," Sherlock said simply, refusing to break the gaze.

"Yeah, she is," Gibbs said as he looked the younger man in the eyes once more, "but she needs someone to tell her that she's being irrational, not tell her to go on a date with a man who is hunting her," he told him as the low deep growl returned to his voice.

I didn't want her to. I practically pleaded with her.

"She made her decision," Sherlock told him before Gibbs smacked him on the back of the head, much harder than Kylie ever had.

"Get your head straight," Gibbs told him harshly. "You already broke my daughter's heart once and the only reason I haven't killed you where you stand is because I know that you still care for her."

"I don't."

"Bullshit."

Sherlock just looked at him as Gibbs took a threatening step forward.

"You don't let people that you care for walk into danger like that. Charlie told me that you tried to stop her but you know what? You try harder when it comes to those you love."

"I don't love her," Sherlock told him.

Gibbs smirked and laughed slightly before brushing past him, "Yeah, you do."

Sherlock was left in the hallway with a confused look on his face.

***(&amp;#$()* )(# )(#**

"Sherlock! I am perfectly capable of opening the door by myself!" Kylie complained as she walked into her house later that week.

"You cant even open a soda by yourself," Sherlock shot back as he closed the door, placing her bags on the ground as he locked up.

Kylie rolled her eyes and sighed. It was true. She had been finally released from the hospital after spending nearly five days in that hellhole. Tony and father had stayed for a few days before catching a case that required them back in DC immediately. Kylie had been pleased to see her family, but was also relieved she didn't have Tony and her father constantly hovering anymore. No, that role had been taken over by Sherlock and John who had still stayed behind.

Kylie looked around her place, feeling as if something wasn't right.

"Where's Toby?"

"Charlie took him," Sherlock told her as he removed his jacket, rolling up his shirt sleeves, "Said he needed to be looked after."

Kylie smiled and ran her good hand through her hair and adjusted her sling, "Well, that makes me hate him slightly less after I had to put up with him terrorizing the nurses all week."

Sherlock smiled at her slightly as he took in her more at ease appearance. The bruises and cuts on her face were healing, but it still broke his heart to see her injuries.

_He could have prevented it if he had figured it out quicker. _

_Irene could still be alive…_

"I wish I could go to the funeral," Kylie commented as if she could read his mind.

He stiffened in shock momentarily.

"John said you couldn't fly for another two weeks after as severe of a concussion you had. Risk of hemorrhage is too great."

"I know," Kylie sighed, looking down, "I just feel like I owe her."

He looked at her before silently dropping his gaze to the floor.

They fell into silence for a few moments.

Kylie cleared her throat and rubbed her bandaged arm awkwardly.

"When does your flight leave?" she asked softly.

"Six-thirty," Sherlock replied.

Kylie nodded and dropped her gaze once more. She felt eyes on her as she looked up again to find Sherlock staring at her.

She looked at him quizzically.

"Are you coming back to London?" he asked in a quiet voice that Kylie had only heard him use once when he told her that he loved her.

_Yeah, but then you stepped all over him…._

Kylie sighed and looked at him. His face was expressionless. Sure, his voice had been small and quiet, but his face didn't show any emotion what so ever.

She had been dreading this moment ever since Mycroft had walked out of her room. It was the one thing that she had been thinking about non-stop in the last couple of days and even though she had made up her mind, she wasn't sure if it was the right choice.

"No," Kylie said quietly, "I have a life here Sherlock, a good one. As much as I would love to be back at Baker Street with you and run around and solve cases, I cant."

"Why not?" Sherlock asked slightly hurt.

_Oh God, he looks like a hurt puppy._

"Because I need to get over you, and I cant do that if we are living in the same flat."

"Get over me?"

"Yes, Sherlock. Get over you. We aren't together anymore; you have made that very clear. And if you don't want a relationship, that's fine, but you need to know that I have to do something's for myself in order to cope with that."

He just looked at her once more before he took a step towards her.

He bent down and pressed his lips against hers briefly causing Kylie's head to spin as electricity and warmth raged through her body.

He pulled away and looked at her for half a second before Kylie opened her eyes.

"I love you," he said in a small quiet voice.

Kylie froze on the spot. She just gaped at him. Did she really hear what she thought she heard? It took Sherlock half a second before he realized what he had said out loud. He looked slightly petrified, like a scared child before he turned and walked quickly out of the house, shutting the door behind him.

Kylie couldn't move, she was rooted to the spot. Shock had overtaken her body as she just stared at where Sherlock had just been standing.

Had he really just told her that he loved her?

Even when they were together, he hadn't said it. Granted he did once, but Kylie had royally messed that one up.

Kylie couldn't feel a single part of her body. Her head was still spinning from the chaste kiss. What did it all mean? Kylie didn't have a clue. He was leaving for London, a flight that Kylie couldn't go on. They wouldn't work together anyway right?

Oh, who in the hell was she kidding? She had never fallen so hard for anyone else in her life. Her feelings for him had tripled since he had arrived in San Diego and what had just happened didn't help.

But would his embarrassment over the whole issue cause him to pull away once more? Was it worth giving up her life here only to have her heart smashed by the dark-haired detective once more?

Minute after minute past as Kylie still found herself unable to move. He was gone. There was no chasing after him.

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	22. Chapter 22

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Sherlock strolled through the quiet and darkened streets of London, his hands shoved into his pockets in fists as internal debate raged wildly within him. He had a case, his mind should be on that, but he couldn't keep his mind from wandering elsewhere.

It had been two and a half weeks since his return to London. And since the moment he had left he still could not wrap his head around what had happened in her home.

_Why had he told her he loved her?_

_Why had he kissed her…?_

God. There was no denying that he enjoyed the electricity and warmth that had spread throughout his body when he placed his lips on hers… but he hardly admitted that to himself, let alone anyone else.

He could still see that look on her face when he had pulled away. What was it…? Bliss? He didn't know. Typically this is where he would ask John, but that was most definitely not an option as of right now. There was no way he could tell his friend that he had kissed her, that the moment he had pulled away and looked at her confirmed that love was a real, viable, chemical interaction. John would never shut up about it. Plus he couldn't admit it…

God, he hated this. He hated that Kylie Gibbs had made him… love.

The biggest question of all though, was what in the hell had made him say it out loud? That thought was something that he had meant to keep to himself, not tell Kylie. He hadn't realized the words had flown from his lips until he saw her gaping expression.

He growled in frustration with himself and walked faster.

He was an idiot. What in the hell had this physiological reaction of hormones done to him?

Made him a dimwit. That's what.

Part of him wanted to see her again; have her take John's place at Baker Street. But part of him was humiliated. He had made a fool out of himself.

It didn't matter. Kylie had said no. Her feeling for him were gone. She had gone to great lengths to stay away from him and she wanted to keep it that way.

He couldn't blame her. If he had been more observant, more on his game, less distracted by that red dress… he could have prevented her from getting hurt. They could have caught the guy before she had gotten taken. Before Harringer had got to Irene.

God that dress… it had been haunting him. She had looked amazing. That dress had fit her just right; tight enough to her body to appreciate her figure, yet loose enough to add some mystery to what lay beneath. The heels she had worn as well. Her legs were accentuated, adding a slight sway to her hips as her gait pattern was adjusted.

Sherlock growled and rolled his eyes at himself, drawing his coat closer around himself, turning up his coat collar. He was sick of the fact that his blood kept rushing to another part of his body other than his brain when Kylie popped into his mind. He had learned to control it quickly after hitting puberty, but since his trip to America, it had been happening more often.

_When had he lost control?_

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

Sherlock was pulled out of his train of thought as he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out, seeing the caller ID flash JOHN WATSON on the screen, causing Sherlock to sigh, hit ignore, and repocket the device.

John had been trying to get ahold of him nearly non-stop since their return. It was almost a miracle he had moved out of Baker Street. It was easier to avoid him this way. John had been especially annoying over the last few weeks, ever since Sherlock had met Lestrade and John at the airport.

John had seen through Sherlock's façade as he had lied to Lestrade about his slightly horrified and flustered appearance. The entire flight back to Britain, John had interrogated him about what had happened at Kylie's place. He had refused to respond and eventually, John had given up. That wasn't the end of it though. No. Not at all. Even after Irene's funeral, John and Mary had begun to interrogate them together, that was until Sherlock had snapped, made Mary cry, caused John to yell at him, and then he had proceeded to exit the cab and walk home.

Ever since then, he had taken to avoiding his friend. He had become increasingly more annoying. He kept saying things like "you need to say how you feel every once in a while" and then yelling profanities at him. He was beginning to alternate sounding like a deranged psychopath and Witham… and he preferred neither.

Because of John's annoying nature at the current moment, Sherlock had taken to mainly being reclusive. He had only taken one case from Lestrade in the last three weeks and was currently trying to track down members of his homeless network to find more information on where the fugitive may be hiding.

This case was relatively boring and pointless, but it was something to keep his mind occupied. Typically he would resort to running experiments, but Barts and Baker Street were currently being haunted by John Watson.

_Damn Mrs. Hudson for letting John keep a key…_

He rounded the corner of Baker Street, unable to notice the sudden smell of Lavender and Vanilla hit his nostrils. Sherlock stiffened and stopped in his tracks, looking around for a familiar shade of dark, auburn hair.

He shut his eyes and kicked himself.

_Kylie was in San Diego. What was he doing? She didn't want him. _

He needed to regain control of himself.

He sighed and unlocked the door and walked into 221B as he removed his scarf, jacket and blazer. Mrs. Hudson had apparently started the fire. Sherlock began to walk over to his music stand when he froze.

_Someone else was here…_

Sherlock slowly turned around as he felt eyes on him. None other than Kylie Gibbs sat on his couch, looking at him with her large blue eyes, a glass of wine and an open bottle next to her.

Her bruises were gone, the cuts were healing and the sling was nowhere to be found as she smiled at him, cradling the wine in her hands. The sight of her shocked him. He had forgotten that she had cut her hair and the way she held herself, compensating for the buildup of scar tissue in her shoulder took him aback for a moment.

She stared at him blankly as butterflies and warmth started to take over his body once more.

He tore his eyes from her, glancing over to her right, seeing a few large suitcases next to her.

_How in the hell had he missed that?_

"Hello Sherlock," Kylie said as she smiled at him.

Sherlock opened his mouth to say something, but found himself… nervous? Why in the hell was he nervous? He didn't get nervous.

"Hell… hello," he managed to get out, stumbling over his words. He cleared his throat to cover it up.

God, he hated himself right now. He never should have kissed her. If he hadn't, he would already be telling her about the case he was working on, instead of debating what to say next.

"You are… going to move in?" he asked, trying to act as casual as possible.

_Please say yes… _

_WHO ARE YOU?_

Kylie took a sip of wine and looked over at her bags, "Yeah, if that's still okay with you?"

Sherlock nodded as she stood up, setting her wine down. He looked at her bags, doing everything he could to avoid her gaze.

"Yes, of course. The invitation was extended to you."

He looked up to see Kylie growing closer to him. He stared at her curiously.

_What was she doing? _

_Its awkward. Address the elephant in the room. You even know to do that. _

"Look, Kylie… What happened before I left. I do not know what came over me. I respect that you are as you say, 'trying to get over me'…" he began, but before he could finish, Kylie's lips were suddenly on his.

Sherlock couldn't move. He couldn't thing. The rest of the world faded away as he shut his eyes and enjoy the warmth that was spreading throughout his body as Kylie's lips lay on his.

Before he was ready, Kylie broke the kiss, slowly pulling away, letting his eyes flutter open as she smiled at him.

_Good Lord, she was beautiful…_

"I love you too," she whispered to him, looking him dead in the eye.

Sherlock stiffened and froze once more.

….._Wait… she did?_

He didn't know what overtook him at that moment, but before any rational thought crossed his mind, a different side of him erupted deep from where he had buried any and all feelings he had towards this woman; cascading to the surface. He pushed her up against the wall, looking at her briefly before his lips were one hers, kissing her with an unseen fervor that could not be explained.

Kylie moaned into his mouth as her arms slid up his chest and around his neck, pulling him close, forcing him to press his body into hers.

He shivered lightly as she pulled away briefly to drop kisses sown his jaw line, slowly making her way down his throat; nipping and sucking as she went.

Sherlock let out an involuntary groan as he began to lose all grip on reality. His hands moved uncontrollably down her sides, finding the bottom of her shirt. He felt Kylie gasp as he found an inch or so of exposed skin and he took that moment to recapture her lips with his, kissing her fiercely once more.

His hands had a mind of their own as they began to explore the skin that covered her stomach and back, leaving goosebumps in their wake. Kylie lightly nipped and sucked on his bottom lip, causing him to growl and deepen the kiss, trying to get closer to her.

Kylie's hands flew into his hair and then down his back, causing Sherlock to lose the little self-control he was struggling to hold on to. He broke his lips from hers only when he was beginning to see dark spots and his lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen.

He looked at her as he caught his breath. Her eyes were almost black with desire as she breathed heavily, looking at him through her lashes as she trailed a hand down his chest, almost asking. The sight of her hair tasseled, her slightly disheveled with her pupils the size of saucers… he was losing all self-control he had.

He had zero power left over his actions anymore.

He pulled her towards him, away from the wall slightly as he shoved her pea coat off of her as his lips met hers once more. Kylie helped him the best she could and gasped once more in slight surprise when his hands were under her shirt before her coat even hit the ground.

Kylie felt her head spin from the electricity that was racing throughout her body. She had never seen this animalistic side of him… not that she was complaining…

His hand began to travel farther and farther up, reaching her scar. She flinched slightly, gasping. Sherlock pulled away, looking at her in concern. She didn't let him however, as she put a hand behind his head and pulled him in for a kiss. He hesitated and pulled away, looking at her with concern.

"Alright?" he breathed.

She nodded and moved his hand to her scar, letting him touch it as she kissed him. He hesitated, knowing where the scar came from, but Kylie moaned and pressed her body into his hand, allowing him to explore further.

He couldn't stop himself, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't. His fingers trailed and explored the scar, before he got frustrated with how limiting her shirt was, and pulled it off immediately. She gasped in surprise as his lips trailed down her jaw to her neck, finding that spot quickly and easily that made her question all reality.

He knelt down, kissing her stomach and his way up her scar, his lips loving, kissing, and healing every part of her. She took a sharp inhale at the gesture, trying to keep her heart from combusting.

_Why the hell did this man have to do everything right?_

She pulled him up, kissing him as she pushed him back towards his bedroom, her hands making work of this shirt, throwing it off of him as soon as she had it unbuttoned. She ran her hands hungrily up his chest, trying to feel every muscle, every contour as her lips found his collarbone once more. Sherlock let out a deep groan that Kylie could tell he was trying to keep to himself, but failed.

She smiled slightly; she was having an effect on him.

Kylie pressed into him immediately as his back met the wall. Something hard hit her upper thigh, causing her to smile even more.

…_she was definitely having an effect on her…_

She was taken by surprise when Sherlock suddenly took control, pushing her across the hall to the wall opposite of them. Kylie gasped as he practically attacked her neck, losing all control of himself. The fact that Sherlock Holmes was losing control of himself over her, was making her lose all restraint she ever had. If he didn't rip her clothes off in less than a minute, she was going to rip them off herself.

Her nails trailed down his back as his lips trailed across her collarbone, reaching her left shoulder. He carefully kissed her injured shoulder with the bright red healing scar, trying to soothe the injury away.

Kylie gently moved to capture his lips with hers once more as she pulled him into the bedroom, closing the door as she leaned against it, pulling him towards her. Her hands tangled in his hair as he kissed her. She slowly walked them backwards until Sherlock's legs hit the bed.

She felt Sherlock stiffen and break the kiss. She looked at him, silently asking him if he wanted to continue…. Lord knows she did…

Sherlock's eyes met hers briefly before wandering down the rest of her exposed body. Kylie felt the heat rise to her cheeks slightly under his gaze. She knew his overactive brain was analyzing and digesting every single part of this. She just hoped he liked what he saw.

Her question was answered as she felt his lips once more on her neck near her ear; Kylie fought the urge to moan, but lost as his teeth grazed her earlobe. That's it…she couldn't take it anymore.

Kylie then shoved Sherlock onto the bed and climbed on top of him straddling his hips as she kissed him. She went to kiss his neck as she ran her hands down his chest and ground her hips into his. Sherlock gasped at the unexpected friction as his hands flew to Kylie's hips. She smiled against his skin as she began to kiss her way down his chest. She began to find spots that made him shiver and groan as she reached where his belt lay.

She stopped and looked at him before she began to undo his belt. She felt him stiffen slightly as he looked at her blankly, his pupils blown with desire. She slowly unbuttoned his pants, careful not to touch him. She needed to ease him into this. She began to pull them down his legs only to have Sherlock help her. She threw them to the floor and looked at him.

There he was, Sherlock Holmes, lying there in the center of a bed in only his underwear…. Good Lord he was sexy.

Sherlock's cheeks began to redden under her stare. Kylie snapped out of her trance and back to her task.

"Just relax," She whispered to him as she bent down to kiss his stomach as her hands began wandering up his thighs. She felt him stiffen slightly as she neared his desire. Kylie moved her body up and kissed him softly. He seemed to relax a little as she moved her hand closer to its desired location. She kept doing this until she laid her palm on him. Sherlock stiffened once more and Kylie brought her other hand up to his face to try to get him to relax as she kissed him, holding her hand there as she did. Once he began to relax more, Kylie started to grope him gently, adding more and more pressure and friction as he relaxed further into her ministrations.

Unexpected to Kylie, Sherlock turned and flipped her onto her back as he rolled on top of her, kissing her passionately. His hands were all over her as he began to make his way down her body, as to reenact what she had just did to him.

Dear Lord, was this man a quick learner. He made his way down to her breasts before he pulled back slightly to look at them. Kylie watched him as he slid his hands up her body to grasp them. Kylie inhaled sharply at the contact and shut her eyes. He was looking at her, as if to analyze which movements brought her pleasure and which did not. He began to play with them as she moaned lightly. This continued for a few minutes until she felt Sherlock's hands leave her and removed her bra swiftly and easily.

Kylie didn't even think that the bra had hit the floor, before Sherlock's mouth and hands were all over her once more. She let out another moan and arched her back into him as his warm velvety mouth wrapped itself around her nipple. She raked her nails across his shoulders as she desperately tried to cling to him; a rock in her sea of pleasure.

He gave similar attention to both breasts before he continued down her body. By this time, Kylie was panting and desperate for friction. Sherlock slowly reached the top of her pants as his eyes met hers. Impatiently, Kylie's hands flew down to her pants, unbuttoning them and pulling them off quickly.

She then pushed him back and brought her hands down to the band of his underwear. She looked at him to make sure he was okay before removing them completely. Kylie saw the red return to his cheeks as he sat up, kissing her briefly before beginning to tug at hers.

There they were, together, everything bared. All thoughts gone, all inhibitions gone. Kylie kissed him softly once more as they both began to explore every inch of each other, memorizing every crevasse, every shiver, every sigh, every moan.

Kylie broke the kiss and looked at him before slowly climbing in his lap, hovering over him as Sherlock sat up. She put a hand on his face as if to ask permission wordlessly. His hands ran up and down her back before he leaned forward to kiss her gently. That was all that Kylie needed to know before she lowered herself onto him as they clung to each other.

Completion, was the only word to describe it as they became one with each other. Kylie could not imagine a better feeling on the planet than the one that she was feeling at that moment as she clung to Sherlock and he clung to her as they made love for the first time.

They wanted more and more of each other through out that night until finally, one crossed the edge, and brought the other with them. Breathing hard, they collapsed onto the bed, entangled in a sweaty heap. They both lay there for a moment, neither able to move until finally Kylie pulled her head up from where it had been nuzzled in Sherlock's neck and smiled as she kiss him tenderly. She pulled back to look at him as she wiped some of his damp curls out of his face. Sherlock captures her lips gently once more before he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. He pulled back before pulling the sheet over them and settling back down.

Kylie rested her head on his chest as her hand began to rub those circles that he had missed so much. He sighed with contentment as his hand traveled up and down the soft skin of her bare back lightly before playing with her curls.

They drifted off to sleep, not even saying a single word to each other, but just knowing that right there, is exactly where they were supposed to be.

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	23. Chapter 23

**Hey guys! Looks who is finally back! Apologies… I finished up my Masters and then work got ahold of me! But I was finally able to find some time to update! Yay!**

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Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

Sherlock's conscious stirred as he kept his eyes welded shut, attempting to ignore his brain that was booting up with the sound of the ticking clock on the nightstand.

For once, he didn't want to wake up. The comfort and the smell of lavender and vanilla were seductive enough to make him want to stay in this bed forever.

_Lavender and vanilla…_

_Kylie._

Images, sounds, feelings, and the tactile sense of her skin all came flooding back to him from the night prior.

The way her skin felt.

Her soft moan as he kissed her neck.

The way her body felt wrapped around his.

… how she told him she loved him.

His body felt tingly and as if euphoria were running through his veins. He hadn't even awoken fully and the woman had given him a high that he couldn't come down from yet.

He moved his arm, expecting to find Kylie's warm body next to him, but instead, he just found empty, cold sheet.

His heart skipped a beat as he opened his eyes and turned his head to find his bed completely empty.

He frowned as he sat up.

She had been here… hadn't she?

He smelled lavender and vanilla…

He took a deep breath in, noting the lack of those two scents in the air.

_Did you imagine it?_

_No. It felt too real. She was here. She had to be here. _

_Wouldn't be the first time you have imagined something like that happening… as real as that. _

He froze as he stared at his bedspread. It was true. Ever since he had gotten back from the states, every waking moment had been hyper focused on memories of her. Had he really dreamt her return?

_Dreamt? These last two and a half weeks haven't been the only time you have been thinking of this…_

He paused at his own subconscious.

_High. When you were high they are more real and vivid. When fantasy blurs with reality…_

_He hadn't been high though… had he?_

Sherlock quickly checked his own body, not seeing any fresh injection sites before he noticed something else that was disturbing.

Naked. He was naked.

Sherlock frowned at himself before he shut his eyes.

_What in the hell was going on?_

He typically didn't sleep in the nude. He sometimes did it to irk John as he paraded around in a sheet… but John wasn't even here. He had no 'reason' to.

_Unless… she was here… _

Sherlock listened for any sound or trace of sound from the bathroom or anywhere else in the flat.

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

_Trace. There had to be some trace of her. _

He scrambled out of bed, wildly looking for the clothes he knew he had thrown off of her last night.

…_Or you thought you did…_

He looked around, feeling the anxiety build in his chest as he saw nothing but his floor. No trace of clothes, nothing.

_Crazy. You are going crazy. Imagining things… _

_It happened. I swear it happened. _

_You could have been dosed. It was a dream, all the facts are pointing towards it. Be rational man!_

_No. It happened. _

He walked out of his bedroom, walking down the hall to where he knew some of his clothes had come off.

_What in the hell had happened?_

He burst out into the living room, searching for his coat he was sure had come off here, when he felt eyes on him.

He stiffened, paused, and then turned around, finding none other than Kylie sitting on his couch. Her shorter hair was mussed as if she had slept on it, she was nearly naked herself, though her black lace bra was peaking out of the shirt he had been wearing last night she had put on to keep her somewhat decent. A pair of glasses adorned her face as she held a mug up to her mouth, staring at him in a state of perplexion and shock.

He gaped at her.

_She… she was here. _

_It was real_

_It had been real. _

He watched her eyes flit down momentarily before she raised her eyebrows and smiled at him slightly.

"Well, good morning to you too," she commented, smiling at her own joke.

"You're… actually here…" he commented breathlessly.

His shock and tone caused her smile to fade and eyebrow to rise.

"Well, yes… you don't… remember last night?" she questioned, lowering her tea.

"Oh I remember it perfectly," he said a bit too quickly.

He watched a smirk and small blush come over her face as heat immediately rose to his.

She looked down, fiddling with the tea bag in the coffee cup, "I hope in a good way," she muttered.

"I never said it wasn't," came flowing out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Her eyes immediately locked onto his, which in that moment, he knew he had to get out of there before he embarrassed himself further.

She watched him shift awkwardly before realization came over his face.

"I'm going to shower… and put clothes on.." he muttered before quickly walking back to the bathroom shutting the door behind him.

He leaned against the door momentarily before attempting to compose himself.

_She was here. Really here. _

_She loved him. _

He let out a long deep breath he didn't even realize he had been holding; one he had felt like he had been holding since the moment Kylie had left London.

He felt a smile spread out over his face as his body sagged, all tension he had been holding for nearly a year, relaxing.

_Kylie was back in his life… and he was…happy. _

Happy. It was the opposite of how he should feel, especially after doing something so normal… so mundanely human.

He pushed off the wall and started the shower, climbing in once the water was steaming.

The fact that he was happy should bother him. It had in the past. He wasn't emotional. He thrived on separating himself from emotion. He was superior to it in fact… but last night… that woman invoked more emotion in him that he had ever felt at one time.

The touches sent an electrical shock down his spine. Each touch was so invigorating, so addicting that his body ached for more. He wanted to be closer to her, yet memorize every single aspect of her….

He shut his eyes and put his face under the water.

When he had left her place in San Diego, he though he would never see her again, yet, just as if in a dream, she had shown up in his flat, told him she loved him, and gave him a piece of herself…. A piece of herself that had been selfishly taken by someone without her consent and she now guarded…

He paused as the water ran over him.

She had been different last night. Sure they had been somewhat intimate before last night, but her flashbacks, touching her scar… something always held her back. Thomas always invaded her thoughts.

…but last night, she had been confident, almost as if she was in complete control of herself.

Him though… HE had lost control.

No thoughts. No inhibitions. Just him and her.

The door creaked open and soft shuffling made him pause before the shower curtain was drawn back and someone stepped in behind him.

A soft hand and electric touch ran down his back before they wrapped around his torso and a soft body pressed into him.

"Mind if I join you?" Kylie asked shyly as dropped a soft kiss on his shoulder.

He turned to look at her, watching her nervously look at him, trying to subtly hide her body from him.

He didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. This woman was beautiful and yet she was uncomfortable… did he make her uncomfortable?

Her hand trailed gently down his chest as she looked up at him, her lips nearing his before they met in a soft kiss.

Sherlock felt his heart flutter in his chest as his hand tangled itself in her hair, keeping her close to him as he returned the kiss.

She let out a soft moan and pressed her body into him more as she deepened the kiss.

He felt all sanity and rationale leave him as he began to lose himself in this woman.

"SHERLOCK?"

He froze, feeling Kylie stiffen as well.

A door shut and footsteps entered the flat.

"Sherlock I know you are bloody here!" John's voice echoed throughout the flat, "You can't keep avoiding me!"

The bathroom door suddenly opened and Kylie looked at him with wide eyes.

There was a pause and silence.

"You can't avoid me forever, Sherlock," John said snippily from the other side of the curtain, "You don't return my calls or texts… If you don't, I will track you down so I don't think you are in a drug den or a gutter somewhere!" 

"Hello John," Sherlock said forcefully as he shut his eyes.

_He just needed him to go away…_

"Seriously, now will you come out and talk to me like a man, or am I just going to have to pull you out of there to talk to you?" John asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"My flat" Sherlock replied, running a hand through a worried Kylie's hair and instinctively pulling her close.

_Why? He had no idea._

"I'm a doctor. I've done far more invasive things than pull my arrogant best mate out of a shower. I've done prostate exams for God's sake…" John said as he ripped back the curtain, trailing off as he gaped wordlessly as he found Sherlock holding a naked Kylie close to keep her a decent as he could.

"Hey John," Kylie said pointedly.

John didn't respond. He only gaped wordlessly at his two friends, his jaw slack in amazement.

"You mind?" Kylie asked before she shut the curtain in John's face, hoping to snap him out of his trance and end this humility.

John blinked a few times at the shower curtain before coming back to reality.

"Right…. Sorry. I'll er… be in the living room." John said awkwardly before walking out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

"Well, now John knows," Kylie joked nervously

"He would find out eventually that you were back," Sherlock disregarded as his hands trailed up and down her back, unable to stop himself.

Kylie frowned and looked up at him, "yeah…and the fact that he found us naked in a shower isn't news to him either."

Sherlock froze and looked at her, realization hitting him.

He stared at her only a moment before clambering out of the shower in a hurry.

Kylie stood there alone in shower, sighing to herself.

"Yeah, because I didn't want anyone else to know either…" she muttered to herself as she turned off the water and grabbed a towel, quickly drying off.

***&amp;(* # (*# ()**

Sherlock waltzed out of his bedroom just as Kylie was coming into change, bypassing her quickly as to cut John off before he could do any more damage.

He found his old flat mate sitting in his typical chair nursing a cup of tea as he stared at him with curiosity.

Sherlock exhaled in annoyance before taking his chair and grabbing the morning paper, knowing a 'conversation' was coming.

"So… Kylie is back?" John asked simply as he smugly took a sip of his tea.

"Yes. Obviously." Sherlock snapped back as he tried to find something… anything to read to take him out of this conversation.

"Is she moving in here?"

Sherlock snapped down his paper and glowered at John, "Why would you ask that?"

John raised an eyebrow at him as he pointed to the suitcases near the door, "I apparently missed them on my way in."

"Oh…" Sherlock muttered before lifting his paper up to hide his embarrassment once more.

"So, I'm right, she is moving in?"

"I needed someone at Baker Street."

"Apparently you needed more than just a friend at Baker Street…"

Sherlock snapped his paper down and glared, causing John to smirk as footsteps pounded up the stairs.

"Yet another domestic?" Mycroft asked as he waltzed into the room in his typical attire.

Sherlock rolled his eyes and looked at his older brother.

"What are you doing here Mycroft?" he asked before his sight fell to a folder in his brother's hands, "Case? One that I don't want. Let me guess, missing files of weapons again? Why is it that the British government can never keep track of their assets?"

Mycroft gave his brother a condescending look, "Try murder in the Thames house. MI5 agent was killed when the building was secure."

Sherlock slowly looked at his brother with slight intrigue.

Mycroft smiled, knowing he had peaked his younger brother's interest.

"We would like to keep in 'within house' per say, but your name came u pin this time of need."

Mycroft could see the internal debate that was raging within Sherlock's mind. He wanted the case, it was interesting, but he also wanted to turn every case his brother brought him down just to spite him.

Sherlock and Mycroft were locked in a staring contest for a moment or two before John took the file from Mycroft and began looking through it as Sherlock's eyes returned to the newspaper in front of him.

"The Thames house was secure for a meeting with the Prime minister. No one could enter or leave until the meeting had subsided," Mycroft began as John flipped through the file and Sherlock pretended not to be listening, "MI5 agent Benjamin Lancaster was found dead in a secure room. No obvious sign of death and toxicology report came back negative."

"What was he doing in the secure room?" John asked.

Mycroft shook his head, "No idea how or why he was able to get into the room."

"What was in the room?" John asked.

Sherlock smiled, he knew the right questions to ask.

"Nothing the two of you need to concern yourselves with," Mycroft said smiling at them.

John was about to open his mouth when they heard a door close down the hall.

John smirked as Mycroft's head snapped towards Sherlock to inquire about who else was here, all while Sherlock raised the newspaper higher up to block his face from all view.

"Okay, John… we get that you find it funny and interesting that you found the two of us in the shower, but we would greatly appreciate it if you didn't prance around telling everyone… shit…" Kylie said as she made it out into the living room finding not only John, but Mycroft as well in their presence.

Mycroft was lost for words and gaping as much as Mycroft Holmes could gape in surprise at seeing the young anthropologist dressed in his little brother's t-shirt.

"You forget your pants Kylie?" John asked, loving every moment of this.

"I do believe that is a commonality that my little brother and Miss Gibbs have, Dr. Watson," Mycroft added in, not skipping a beat.

Kylie turned a shade of beet red and muttered something about not wanting to dirty more clothes, while Sherlock snapped his paper down to glare at his now chuckling brother and giggling friend.

"What?" John asked, "It was funny. You have to admit."

Sherlock snapped the paper back up as Kylie shut the bedroom door looking for more clothes.

"So you really are a goldfish now aren't you Sherlock?" Mycroft asked after a moment.

"Shut up Mycroft." Sherlock snapped as even more footsteps pounded up the stairs.

"Sherlock, we've got a link between two murders." Lestrade said as he walked into the flat, "We think it might be serial. Oh, good John's already here. That makes things easier."

Sherlock rolled his eyes. Why today of all days was he having sudden influxes of cases and foot traffic through his flat?

"Did Kylie make it here yet?" he asked.

Everyone in the room stared at him in bewilderment.

"How did you know she would be here?" John asked.

"I just got off the phone with Charlie," Lestrade replied, "Hastings fired them both from the FBI."

"Fired?" John asked in shock, "Why?"

"Because its apparently against FBI protocol to have an unsanctioned undercover op that gets a civilian killed and without back up standing by," Kylie said as she walked back into the room making a cup of tea.

Lestrade stared at her for a moment, "Are you wearing all of Sherlock's clothes?" he asked with a grin.

"Hello to you too Greg. Now, are we done with this topic, or can I go die of humiliation in the corner because this is now the third person I have to have this with today?" Kylie asked shortly as she brought a mug out for both her and Sherlock, taking a seat on the arm of his chair.

Lestrade grinned looking at John and Mycroft for confirmation, only making Kylie and Sherlock blush even more. It had not been a well-kept secret (mainly due to Witham, John, and Lestrade) that they had not slept together in their prior relationship, much to Sherlock and Kylie's dismay. , it had not been a well-kept secret that they had not slept together during their prior relationship. Some understood because they knew about Kylie's past, had met Sherlock, and had respect for being religious or old fashioned, but others could not wrap their mind around it, which is why they grew so annoyed with everyone obsessing where it was none of their business.

Lestrade grinned and opened his mouth to say something before Kylie cut him off, "Say something and I will kick you so hard that your testicles recede back up into your body. This is a private thing between Sherlock and I and none of you have any business in making a comment about it." Kylie snapped.

"So the opposite of what you did to Sherlock last night," John said grinning, not able to help himself.

Sherlock's paper snapped down as he and Kylie both glared at John murderously.

"Careful John," Kylie said angrily as she took her phone from off the desk and began typing, "I can have Mary withhold sex from you until the wedding."

John scoffed as Kylie looked at him raising an eyebrow.

"I'll just tell her that I read that it makes the honeymoon a lot more special and has shown to decrease the divorce rate," Kylie told him as she finished the message and pressed send.

John's face fell in horror. Mary had gone crazy into full wedding planning mode and if you told her you read it somewhere, Mary would instantly pick it up.

John pulled out his phone and began trying to text Mary and tell her that it was a joke Kylie was playing as Lestrade laughed slightly.

"No chance you are going to be able to reverse that one. When one woman's read it in a magazine, that word is etched in stone," Lestrade told him clapping him on the shoulder in pity for the time ahead of him.

Kylie smirked as she sipped her tea. Sherlock finally set down his paper and picked up his mug, smirking at John as he hung his arm off of Kylie's leg, since she was sitting on his armrest.

Mycroft looked between the two of them, they really were quite a pair.

"You get everything figured out with the university?" Lestrade asked her.

"University?" Sherlock asked.

"Yeah, Charlie's accepted a post here too as a liaison to the FBI and the Yard could only hire one. So I took a position at Bart's in conjunction with the PhD and Medical program at University of London. Fortunately. The job is in liaison with the Yard and so I pretty much have my same job except I teach one class and mentor some graduate students," Kylie told them.

"Congratulations," Mycroft told her. Usually it was John who would have expressed his happiness for her, but he was too busy sulking over the loss of his sex life.

"Thank you Mycroft," Kylie told him as she sipped her tea once more.

Sherlock pulled the mug from her hands and set it on the table.

"Hey!" Kylie objected, "I wasn't done with that!"

"Go get a shower, we have a case," He told her as he picked up his paper once more, "God knows you take long enough to get ready."

Kylie stared at him in amazement before turning to the rest of them. They all smirked at her as she got up and grabbed one of her suitcases muttering something about 'taking twice as long'.

Once Kylie had walked into the bedroom Lestrade turned to Sherlock smirking, "Sherlock, you have a lot to learn about living with a woman."

"She's moving in with you?"

**Tad bit different! Hope you enjoyed it! Thoughts feelings review?**


	24. Chapter 24

**Long time no post! So sorry you guys for going MIA. I've been super busy and completely apologize. I haven't been as inspired to write at all… so my apologies!**

**Anyhow, I am hoping to catch up with messages and thanking you all, so I apologize if I haven't replied to you! I'm trying to catch up. Just know I love you all!  
**

**Please enjoy this next chapter and comment with your thoughts, pretty please! **

**Love you all!**

Sherlock sighed in angry frustration as he checked his watch for the 14th time. 10 minutes… 10 minutes she had taken to change into clothes from the suitcase she had disgruntledly taken into his room after huffing about his earlier comment.

"I still cant believe Kylie moved in with you," Lestrade laughed, shaking his head as he sat with John and Mycroft in the armchairs by the fire, "I would have bet money she would have at least taken her flat downstairs for show."

"You obviously didn't walk in on them in the shower," John commented as he tried once more to text Mary before tossing his phone aside, "Plus we all knew this was inevitable."

"Because its Kylie and Sherlock we are talking about," Lestrade argued to John, "They always try to hide their feelings for each other and moving in together is definitely not that. I would have guessed she would have taken her old flat for the illusion that they weren't together…"

"Or we work with people who gossip far to much," Sherlock snapped quickly, "And those who don't even bother to wait until we leave the room."

"You don't even know my first name, so bite me," Lestrade countered, making John chuckle and Mycroft smile.

Sherlock glowered, checking his watch once more rolling his eyes, "FOR GODSSAKE KYLEIGHA! HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE?"

The bedroom door opened and Kylie stepped out fully dressed, smiling innocently, "Oh, I'm sorry. Were you waiting on me?"

Sherlock glowered at her.

"I had no idea. I wouldn't have taken my sweet time if I had known you were waiting," Kylie said, her voice dripping with fake sincerity.

Sherlock just continued to glower, making her laugh as she grabbed her coat.

"See you boys at the scene!" Kylie said with a wave before she sauntered down the stairs, fully satisfied with her revenge.

Sherlock glared into space before growling and muttering under his breath, tearing down the staircase after her, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Will Kylie jerking him around to teach him a lesson ever get any less entertaining?" Lestrade asked as he got up.

John laughed as Mycroft pulled out his phone and began texting.

"I doubt it"

"You coming John?" Lestrade asked as he headed towards the door of the flat.

"No, I have a shift at the hospital. I'll catch up with you lot," he said as he got up, "I figured I would go check on Mrs. Hudson while I'm here."

Both men made to leave the flat before Mycroft held up a folder.

"John, I believe you forgot…"

"No," John said quickly as Lestrade descended the stairs, "I am not taking the case. You can talk your brother into taking it Mycroft."

"My brother is obviously too busy being 'average' to come to his senses," Mycroft drawled, "You'll talk to him John."

"If you want sibling counseling, call Witham," John told him as he opened the door, "If you don't want to do that, then grow a pair and have a conversation with your brother instead of ordering us to take cases."

And with that, John walked out of the flat, leaving Mycroft alone in 221B.

&amp;#&amp;#(* )(*# )(( )&amp;^$&amp;*#^$&amp;*#

Sherlock walked out the door, pulling his coat a little tighter against the cool breeze on a blustery London morning. Lestrade was right behind him as he heard John still arguing with his brother upstairs. He tucked his scarf into his jacket as Lestrade clapped him on the shoulder and walked to his cruiser.

It only took a moment for him to spot Kylie to his left, wrapping her grey scarf around her tightly before pulling out her auburn waves and buttoning her navy pea coat.

He couldn't help but to stare at her for a moment; the image of this morning and the night prior raged through his mind.

She must have felt his eyes on her, as she turned around and smiled at him before turning around and looking for a cab.

"You took forever on purpose," Sherlock commented as he walked towards her.

Kylie raised an eyebrow at him, "You just figured that out? Congratulations on solving that mystery."

Sherlock gave her an insulted look, causing her to laugh once more.

"I mean if I had known you were getting slow, I would have come back to London sooner."

She smiled at his emotionless face. It didn't take but a moment longer before he grinned, shaking his head at her.

"I believe you are the one getting slow."

Kylie stared at him, taken aback.

"I am?"

"Yes," Sherlock commented flatly as he looked for a cab, flagging one down.

Kylie turned towards him and folded her arms, "And how's that?"

"You missed Mycroft's entrance and humiliated yourself," he told her simply.

Kylie took a step towards him flirtatiously as the cab pulled up.

"Hmmm, you think that shower we didn't get to finish had anything to do with it?"

Sherlock froze, feeling his blood turn in his veins as Kylie looked up at him through her lashes. The shower raged through his mind as she looked as if she was leaning closer.

He exhaled and leaned in as he expected to meet her lips, but before he could, she quickly turned away and got in the cab, leaving him feeling cold and dejected.

He looked at her in confusion as he saw her smirking and making small talk with the cabbie.

_Damn this woman._

He got in the cab just as Kylie was reading an address off of her phone and the cabbie pulled away from the street.

"I'm assuming you want to go to Lestrade's scene? Heaven forbid you do your brother a favor…"

"Have you met Mycroft?" Sherlock asked as he subtly scooted closer to her putting his hand on the back of the seat, allowing his fingers to brush the ends of her hair, "He's a politician with a power complex. Until you can figure out his hidden agenda, its not wise to engage in that case."

Kylie raised an eyebrow at him, "Because you have figured out his hidden agenda?"

"Of course its obvious."

"What is it then?"

"And give away the mystery?"

"You have no idea what it is."

"Of course I know what it is."

"No you don't, you would have gloated already."

"Isnt this _gloating_, as you say?"

"No. No it isn't. This is your BS gloating that you do when you don't want to admit that you don't know something."

"Just because you don't know, doesn't mean that you have to insult my intellect."

"Aaaannnddd now you are deflecting," Kylie commented as she smiled.

Sherlock scrunched his face at her in insult, "Deflecting?"

"Yes," Kylie grinned at him as she reached up and entwined her fingers with hand he was trying not to put around her, "but, a case at Thames house with no entrance and no exit, you cant say that's not a good case."

"It could be interesting, but more likely that MI5 missed something obvious."

"Think about it," Kylie said as she looked over at him with a smile, "We could get to harass half the stuck up pricks that run this country and put a damper on Mycroft's further career hopes with one case."

Sherlock looked over at her, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

_He really had missed her._

"Well, when you put it like that…"

Kylie laughed as the cab pulled up the scene. She shoved some bills at the driver as she followed Sherlock out of the cab and through the police blockade.

"Do you think Lestrade actually has a serial killer?" Kylie asked as she shoved her hands in her pockets to try to stay warm.

Sherlock smirked once more as they walked down the alley towards the fleet of squad cars, "Doubtful, the last time he thought he found a serial killer it was just two women who happened to die in the same salon."

Kylie grinned as they ducked under the final line of crime scene tape and towards the scene.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" Donovan gaped as she watched the two of them walk towards where she stood.

"Happy to see us Sally?" Sherlock quipped as he kept walking towards where Lestrade stood.

"Not you freak," Sally spat as she turned to Kylie, "Since when did you come back? He drag you back with him?"

Kylie stopped in her tracks and turned slowly to glare at the woman.

"No, I came back on my own accord," Kylie told her firmly.

"Heard you got sacked," Donovan said, crossing her arms, unable to hide a grin.

"Yeah…" Kylie said with a sarcastic smile, "you're right. I did. But you know why I got fired? Because unlike you, my partner and I took a risk and stopped a serial killer instead of wasting all our time and effort on making fun of the people actually trying to stop criminals."

Donovan scoffed, "You are actually standing up for this freak?"

Sherlock saw Kylie's eyes flare with rage.

"Kylie, come on, " Sherlock said as he tried to pull her away from the situation that was about to unfold.

"Don't, call him a freak," Kylie said in a dangerously low tone as she took a few steps towards her, "Just because he is brilliant and can see things that you are too ignorant to even digest does not make him a freak, it makes him exceptional. The fact that you are too ignorant and slow to even comprehend what goes on in these cases, does not permit you to bully brilliant people."

"Kylie.."

"So if I EVER hear you call him that again, I swear to God, I will hand your ass to you on a platter."

Donovan stared at her in shock, she had not been expecting the anthropologist to go off on her.

"Kylie, come on," Sherlock said as he grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the body and away from Donovan.

She gave Donovan one last glare before allowing Sherlock to pull her towards where Lestrade was standing.

"Everything alright?" Lestrade asked.

"Fine and dandy," Kylie said bitterly, earning a side-glance from Sherlock as he handed her a pair of gloves.

Lestrade raised an eyebrow at her, "Well, this case is right up your alley, Kylie."

"Where is the body?" Sherlock asked.

Lestrade smiled and stepped aside, revealing a single pelvic bone sitting in the alley next to what appeared to be a large amount of chalk dust.

Sherlock looked at the bone and looked at Lestrade as if he had lost his mind.

"That's it? That's your hugely interesting case?"

"We had the same thing a week ago!" Lestrade argued as Kylie donned gloves and bent down to look at the remains, "a pelvic bone and some chalk dust."

"It's a bone. One bone," Sherlock argued, "Most likely a grave robber playing a prank. Or a model for a classroom."

"Its not," Kylie said as she knelt down to inspect the bone, "If this was a model it would be made out of plastic, or have a stamp. This is bone, human bone, and from someone who was recently alive.

"Then someone dug her up," Sherlock dismissed, slightly peeved this case hadn't turned out to be anything interesting.

"It's a woman?" Lestrade asked, "You can tell that from half a bone?"

"You forgot what it was like to work with our intellects, didn't you?" Kylie asked sarcastically.

"I didn't forget what it was like when you two make me feel like a div," Lestrade chided back with a smile.

Kylie laughed and stood up with a bone, "It is from a woman. The human pelvis is actually made up of six bones total. Each side has an ilium, ischium, and a pubis bound together by a bony suture similar to the ones in the skull so it appears as if it is one bone. And Sherlock's right, this is from a woman, a young woman. Most likely 20-25 years old. But…" Kylie said looking at Sherlock, "you are wrong about the fact that she was dug up. First of all, she is only recently deceased. Bone is a living thing, and just like every other living thing, it decomposes at a certain rate. This shows no signs of decomposition and I'm sure once I get it under a microscope, I'll see only recent osteon death. But then there is the weird part that if she is only recently deceased, then why is there no skin, flesh, muscle, blood, or staining?"

Sherlock looked at the bone, maybe this case wouldn't be that boring after all. He put on gloves and took the bone from Kylie inspecting it for himself as she bent down towards the ground again.

"Why the chalk dust though?" Lestrade asked.

"Its not chalk. I have to put it under a scope to verify, but I think its bone dust," Kylie said as she took a sample.

Lestrade's eyebrows shot up as Sherlock stared at her, "She was obliterated into dust?"

Kylie sighed and shrugged, not having an answer quite yet.

"Was the other one you found exactly like this?" she asked as Sherlock handed her back the bone and began inspecting the bone dust as well.

"Exactly like it," Lestrade informed her, "it doesn't help my nerves that both of them were found in the alley by this building…"

Sherlock sighed loudly and rolled his eyes.

Kylie looked between them, lost.

"What's wrong with the building?"

"It's the Castle hotel."

Kylie looked at her former boss, still lost.

"okay…"

"According to the idiots who believe in superstition, its _haunted_," Sherlock stated sarcastically, removing his gloves.

"Haunted?"

"I don't believe in superstition, but with the calls we get… you have to admit, it makes a good case for crazed murders from the beyond."

"Seriously, are you hearing yourself right now, Greg?" Kylie scoffed, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't think a ghost killed her."

"She's a pile of bone dust!" Lestrade argued, "Can one of you two tell me what happened?"

Silence.

"Exactly," Lestrade said pointedly. "There really is something creepy about this building…"

Kylie looked over at the side of the old, historic looking hotel wondering why the DI was so superstitious of the building.

… Little did she know that she was about to find out that superstition may border on the line of truth.

**Review? Pretty please!**


	25. Chapter 25

**You guys are seriously the greatest! I am enjoying my last few days off from work! I will try my best to get at least one more chapter out, but thanks for hanging in there with me you guys! **

**A MASSIVE thanks to everyone who left a review on the last chapter! I would have stopped writing ages ago if it hadn't been for you all! **

**I hope you enjoy!**

"I just don't get it," Kylie stated as she huffed slightly as she pulled her head back from the microscope and removing her glasses to look at Sherlock and John, "Why in the hell would someone bother to stage bone dust next to part of a pelvis in the middle of the street?"

"The pelvis was just laying next to a pile of it?" John asked as Sherlock didn't respond.

"Yeah…" Kylie said trailing off as she replaced her glasses and frowned at the slide.

"Whats that look for?" John asked.

"It just doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense. Why would someone stage it? Especially next to some hotel Lestrade swears is haunted…"

Sherlock audibly groaned and dropped his head, knowing exactly what is coming.

"Wait…. The scene was next to the castle hotel?!"

Kylie looked up in confusion.

"Why did you say that?" Sherlock asked Kylie in despair.

She gaped at him, "Why on earth would that matter? There is no way John actually considers that a ghost murdered someone."

"That place is haunted, Kylie," John said in all seriousness.

Kylie looked at him as if he had grown a third head.

"Seriously? You are kidding me right now, aren't you? John, you are a DOCTOR. You have a medical degree."

"I know it sounds crazy, but that place is haunted Kylie."

"Its not haunted!" Sherlock argued loudly, finally turn to face his two friends.

"It IS, Sherlock!" John retorted, "You weren't there!"

"Wait, wait, wait wait," Kylie said stopping the argument, still reeling from John's proclamation that 'ghosts were real', "You are probably the least superstitious person I know John. I mean, hell, you didn't believe that Sherlock saw a 'massive dog with red eyes in Baskerville'…"

"I didn't, I was drugged," Sherlock inputted.

"You didn't know that at the time from the culmination of versions I have heard," Kylie countered.

"You weren't even there!" Sherlock argued before Kylie turned and gaped at him.

"Can I finish what I was saying? I'm making an argument for your side you know?"

"You weren't correct," he stated simply.

Kylie sighed and shut her eyes in frustration with the man.

"What I was trying to say," she said as she turned back to John, "Was that you have all of that, and yet, you believe in ghosts?"

"Not ghosts," John told her, "Just that there is… something that lives in that place… something that kills…"

Kylie raised an eyebrow at him.

"What are you? A movie announcer now?"

"Look," John said facing her squarely, "I have a few Army mates who have stayed there. Each say they saw something, something that only came out in the middle of the night. They heard screams and creaks as if something was pacing up and down the walls, stalking and choosing their next victim."

"It sounds like Harry Potter," Kylie countered.

John glared at her.

"Fine," Kylie threw her hands up in defense, "Tell then, did you see it. Actually see it?" 

"I heard it," John told her.

"YOU WERE DRUNK!" Sherlock said unable to handle the absurdity of this conversation any longer.

"I was not drunk!"

"You ran back to Baker Street and told me about it before preceding to spend the rest of the night singing to yourself on the bathroom floor retching," Sherlock told him.

Silence.

"I heard it though Sherlock!"

"Uh, guys?" Kylie said as she switched her microscope to project onto the monitor, looking at it closer.

"You were delusional! Your simple little mind couldn't handle the intoxication."

"Guys…"

"Simple? Oh, I forgot you are the GREAT Sherlock Holmes who can never be wrong or altered…"

"GUYS!"

Sherlock and John jumped slightly only to see Kylie pointing at the monitor in slight disbelief.

"I know how she was turned into dust," she said as she kept staring at the screen.

"How?" John asked and he and Sherlock walked over to examine the monitor closely.

"She was cremated," Kylie told them, "I think she was skinned, stripped, and then her bones were cremated. Do you see these rings and flecks? That's ash and scoring. Those rings are only created from extreme temperatures. Essentially its from the singeing of the membranes of the osteons."

Sherlock looked up at John with a self-assured smiled.

"Ghosts don't cremate people," he told John pointedly.

"People cremate people," Kylie finished for him as she turned around to smile at John.

John glared at them, "I never thought I would miss it when you two were up each other's arses instead of sleeping together and agreeing."

Kylie chuckled to herself and felt the heat come to her face as Sherlock's face turned a bright shade of red.

Heels clacked down the hall before the door to the lab burst open.

"You come back and you didn't call me?!" Mary nearly yelled at Kylie as she walked in.

"Hi Mare," Kylie smiled at her as she turned around to face her petite blonde friend, getting up to hug her tightly.

"When did you get here?"

"I just got in last night. Sorry I haven't called you yet, I was a bit occupied," Kylie said motioning to the evidence bags around them.

"That's not the only thing you've been _occupied_ with," John muttered.

Kylie turned and glared at John.

"I mean, you two did look a bit occupied in the shower," John said as he walked over and kissed his fiancé hello before looking over at Kylie and Sherlock, "that is what you kids are calling these days, isn't it?"

Both Sherlock and Kylie glared daggers at John as Mary looked between the two of them.

"Wait… WHAT?!" Mary gaped, looking at John for confirmation.

Sherlock groaned dramatically as he stood up and grabbed his jacket.

"Are you two officially… back together?" Mary gaped happily.

Kylie cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably. They haven't really clarified the "title" of their relationship quite yet… or even really talked about… well, anything. Most of their time had been spent either physical or case related.

"She uh… also moved in with him," John added with a grin.

"YOU WHAT?" Mary said, grinning from ear to ear as Sherlock grabbed Kylie's jacket and scarf, handing it to her quickly.

"Thanks John," Kylie said forcefully as she nearly ground her teeth together in anger.

"Just didn't want you to leave anything out," John told her with a grin, "Oh, and they finally shagged."

"About damn time!" Mary said with the largest grin Kylie had ever seen on her friend's face, "How was it?" she asked with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Kylie blushed and gaped at her friend in blunt shock.

"So glad there is no secrets between friends," John smirked vengefully as he retook his seat.

Sherlock grabbed Kylie's arm and dragged her out of the room.

"Call me later, I have some _really_ great pre-wedding advice for you Mare!" Kylie yelled after her with a glare at John.

Mary frowned as she watched Sherlock drag her friend out of the lab and down the hallway.

"Did she say 'pre-wedding' advice?" Mary asked.

"Have you not looked at your phone?" John asked.

"Uh, no. I've been doing post-mortems all day. Why?"

"No reason. Just drop your phone or throw it in the Thames," John said as he got up and began to lock up the evidence that they had left out.

Mary laughed and hopped up on the counter.

"So, how do you know they actually shagged?" Mary asked, "Did Sherlock say something? Because THAT would surprise me."

John snorted at the thought of Sherlock opening up on the topic, "More like I walked in on them in the shower."

Mary laughed loudly in disbelief.

"What? Really? I am never going to let her live this down."

"Just do it once you throw your phone in the Thames and ideally never to speak until after the wedding."

**# *&amp;#( *)(*%&amp;#*($**

Kylie stepped out of the cab, tightening her scarf around her neck as she stepped onto the sidewalk of Baker Street, waiting for Sherlock to finish paying the cabbie.

She was home.

Her home.

221B.

_God, it never felt so right._

"Are you sure that the muscle and organs were stripped before the body was cremated?" Sherlock asked as he dug out his key.

"Yeah, it seems like that from the marks on the bone. But the trace that we ran under the microscope was all bone," Kylie said as she watched him open the door.

"Hmm," Sherlock muttered as he followed her in.

Kylie turned and looked at him curiously as she removed her jacket and scarf, hanging them on the coat rack.

"What are you thinking?" she asked curiously.

"Something just doesn't fit," Sherlock muttered before he looked up the stairs, "Where did I put my patches?"

"Nicotine patches?" Kylie asked as she raced up the stairs after him, "Sherlock God, no please. Do you know the effect that chemical has on your body?"

Sherlock opened the door and walked into the flat, stopping dead in his tracks, causing a charging Kylie to run into him.

"Really? That changed your mind…. Oh good Lord," Kylie said as she got a glance of the flat, seeing exactly why Sherlock had stopped in his tracks.

Packing boxes and furniture covered the flat. It wasn't any furniture though, it was the same furniture that had been in her flat downstairs in 221C before she had moved out.

Sherlock just kept looking around strangely at the furniture trying to figure out exactly what had happened to his flat.

"How in the hell did this get here?" Kylie asked as she took a step into the flat, touching the boxes to ensure that they were really there.

"What… is it?"

"Its all the stuff I left in my flat when I left," Kylie said in amazement.

_It really was everything._

"How did it end up in the flat?" Sherlock asked, unsure of how he felt about the intrusion of new things in his flat.

"Mary took it. I gave it to her to sell."

"And I," said Mycroft as he walked in through the door, "put it in storage."

Sherlock glared at him as his older brother walked past him and into the flat.

"Can't you go and meddle in someone else's life?"

Mycroft gave his younger brother a sarcastic smile before turning back to Kylie, "I thought you may be wanting it again."

"Why?" Sherlock asked bluntly, "I have furniture."

"You obviously don't understand women," Mycroft told him.

Sherlock snorted, "And you do?"

"Much more than you do," Mycroft countered.

"Boys," Kylie scolded as she rolled her eyes walking over to Sherlock and laid a hand on Sherlock's torso comfortingly, wrapping her other arm around him. She felt Sherlock stiffen, before relaxing slightly as he subtly wrapped his arm around her waist. "Thank you though, Mycroft. That was very thoughtful."

"You're welcome," Mycroft smiled.

There was a moment of silence before Mycroft spoke again.

"Have you had any leads with the Thames House case?" Mycroft asked.

"Aaaannnd there's the manipulation," Kylie sighed, rolling her eyes as Sherlock groaned under his breath.

"I am busy Mycroft. Get one of your flackies to do it."

"I'm trying to do that," Mycroft told him with a smile.

Sherlock glowered.

Mycroft then laid eyes on Kylie.

"Oh, no," she laughed, rubbing Sherlock's chest before slipping out of his arms and began busying herself with the boxes, "I am not getting involved in this. We are working a case as well as now I am unpacking and trying to set up a new job."

"That can be taken care of, I assure you," Mycroft told her.

"Yeah… I don't need a war, so I'll pass," Kylie said giving him a smile.

Mycroft sighed.

"It's like you've already merged into one personality."

"No, it really isn't. You are just that intolerable sometimes," Kylie smiled.

Mycroft gave Kylie a look.

"Are you gone yet?" Sherlock complained as he walked over and flopped down on the couch, "Kylie and I have things to discuss."

Kylie looked at him, a small pit in her stomach beginning to form. Was he regretting what had happened between them? Did he really not love her?

Insecurity was swirling through her body like a hurricane.

_This is what happens when you don't allow time to talk to him…_

"I will call you tomorrow about the case," Mycroft said as he walked towards the door.

"No you wont," Sherlock called out from the couch, as Mycroft left, shutting the door behind him.

Kylie sighed and looked over at the couch, seeing Sherlock shut his eyes and shift uncomfortably.

"You don't want my stuff here, do you?" Kylie asked.

Sherlock made a high pitched whining noise from the back of his throat, submitting that as his answer.

"So you do," Kylie dropped her head, nearly drowning in the insecurity as she did.

"Its… different."

"Well, you wont have to worry about it. I'll sell it or put it in John's room… well, my room…" Kylie said as she bent over to look in the boxes.

Sherlock opened his eyes and sat up, looking at her in confusion.

Kylie felt eyes on her and turned to look at him.

"What?"

Sherlock looked down, fighting the words that were about to come out, making Kylie even more bewildered.

"I thought…. I thought that…"

"That what?" Kylie asked.

"That, my room was your room," Sherlock muttered so quietly, she barely even heard him.

Kylie felt a smile come over her face and that tidal wave of insecurity start to decrease as he looked somewhat hurt.

"I just… didn't know where we stood," Kylie told him as she walked over and sat on the arm of the couch, "I just… uh, didn't want to make assumptions you weren't comfortable with."

Sherlock looked over at her with the same confusion.

Kylie sighed and slid off the arm and landed next to Sherlock on the couch.

"We… uh haven't really clarified things between us."

Sherlock looked at the ground in confusion before turning to her, "What's there to clarify?"

It was Kylie's turn to look up at him in shock.

"I just didn't know what you were comfortable with. I mean we haven't really clarified anything or even really.. uh… talked since I showed up last night."

Sherlock just kept looking at her in confusion.

"I…." Kylie began before trailing off, "I just want this to work. I don't want to push you. I love you, Sherlock. All those months we were split up were terrible and something I really don't want to repeat."

Kylie couldn't look at him, she just kept staring at the floor, hoping, praying for a response.

It took a moment, but then a large hand softly ran itself through her hair before pulling her close and kissing her temple.

"I don't either," he whispered to her.

Kylie shut her eyes, relishing the feeling.

_He didn't regret it._

"I love you too," he told her in a small, miniscule voice.

Kylie pulled back and looked at him, running a hand down his cheek before leaning up and pressing her lips to his in a gentle kiss. The kiss was tender and lingering, causing her heart to nearly burst at the seams as the kiss broke. She felt his thumb stroke her cheek before he captured her lips once more.

It wasn't long before the pair ended up in their bedroom to finish what had been interrupted by a certain friend earlier that morning.

***&amp; ( *$&amp;* ^#* &amp;**

Later that night, Sherlock laid in bed, his eyes beginning to droop as his fingers felt the soft skin of the woman nuzzled into his side, lazily drawing shapes on his chest.

He never would have guessed that being in bed with this woman could make him this relaxed. It was as if there was not a single problem in the world….

It wasn't until Kylie stiffened suddenly, that his body began to stir once more.

She laid a hand flat on his chest and used it to help her sit up a bit, looking him in the eyes.

Sherlock opened it to see her tussled hair and eyes sparkling in the shimmering moonlight seeping in from bedroom window.

"The hotel," Kylie said suddenly.

"What?" Sherlock asked, coming back to reality.

"The hotel, why is it called the Castle?"

Sherlock looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Uh, its essentially a maze on the inside. No one knows how it is truly structured on the inside. The owner used multiple builders when it was built to keep the blueprints a secret."

Kylie's eyebrows knitted together in thought, "Why would the owner keep it a secret? I mean who in the hell turns a hotel into a maze?"

Sherlock looked at her, pondering the absurdity of it as well.

Kylie smiled.

"I think it was built as a murder house," she said, unable to hide the excitement.

"Murder house…"

"I mean, think about it," Kylie said, her eyes sparkling with intrigue, "A hotel, with a bunch of strangers, a maze, no where to run… it's a psychopath's dream home."

Sherlock felt his mind began racing with possibilities and scenarios.

_She was right. _

Kylie smiled, quickly kissing him, causing his mind to go blank. When he came back to reality, he saw Kylie's naked form climbing out of bed and throwing on the nearest possible clothes, happening to be her underwear and his purple shirt, throwing them both on as she walked out into the living room.

Sherlock watched her disappear as coldness began to eat at him. She had been gone for less than 30 seconds and he was already missing her warmth and comfort. He rolled his eyes at himself.

_How in the hell did he become such a sap?_

He sighed loudly and sat up, throwing off the sheet and grabbing his pants, putting them on as he walked out into the living room, seeing Kylie booting up the laptop before she walked into the kitchen to put on the kettle. He couldn't help but watch the way she walked, feeling his breath being taken away by the sight of her.

The way his favorite purple shirt hung off of her as she put water into the kettle was something to be appreciated. She had not buttoned it all the way, allowing the shirt to barely keep her decent.

She was wearing his shirt, his favorite shirt. But the fact that she was his, and wearing his shirt, stirred some primitive feelings from deep within.

Kylie walked back out into the living room and smiled when she saw him standing there staring at her.

"Damn," she said, looking at him appreciatively, "I could get used to this view."

Sherlock shifted awkwardly, a deep blush coming over him, causing Kylie to laugh as she sauntered over, laying a hand on his chest.

"That wont get old for a long time," she joked before she kissed him chastely.

She made to pull away, but she found she couldn't as his arms were snaked around her, holding her in place.

She laughed into his lips before gently pulling Sherlock's hands off of her.

"Just let me see something," she told him as she turned around and began searching the Castle Hotel online.

Sherlock sighed and walked into the kitchen, making tea as Kylie kept searching. When he returned she was paused over a certain webpage.

"mm…" Kylie said smiling, "There."

Sherlock set a mug of tea for her on the table as he lent down to read over her shoulder.

"A conspiracy site?" Sherlock inquired skeptically as he read.

"Hey, sometimes these guys are the only ones to see patterns," Kylie told him, "And look, over the last 30 years, over 200 guests have disappeared after staying in that hotel."

"The killings are connected with the hotel somehow," Sherlock said grinning.

"Exactly," Kylie said as she pulled her legs under her and began to nurse the mug of tea in her hands.

**Review? Pretty please?**


	26. Chapter 26

**A HUGE amazing thanks to all of you who have reviewed! I cant express enough how much your words, comments, and encouragement mean to me. **

**Here's the next chapter!**

Kylie ran a hand through her hair before taking a long sip of her now lukewarm coffee she had switched to after her second mug of tea. She had no idea what time it was, but a usually lively London was quieter, telling her it was the wee hours of the morning. She curled her legs underneath her and allowed her eyes to wander over the desk, littered with pieces of paper, notes, crime scene photos and a pair of laptops.

She looked up at Sherlock sitting across the table from her, completely engrossed in what he was reading. Shirtless, engrossed in a case… he couldn't get more sexy than that.

"Are you working on that case or does your brain turn into a pumpkin at this hour?" Sherlock asked her without even looking up.

Kylie glared at him before picking up her glasses and replacing them.

"You just got less sexy," Kylie muttered, causing Sherlock to freeze in confusion and look up at her.

"What?"

"Nothing," Kylie disregarded with a wave of her hand, "We've been at this for a while, what do you have?"

When Sherlock didn't respond, Kylie looked up at him, finding him still staring at her with a bewildered expression.

"Case?" Kylie asked, "or did your brain turn into a pumpkin?"

Sherlock gave her one last look before looking back down at his computer.

"The hotel was originally built in the Victorian era by a Dr. Eldon Barrow, whom he and his wife ran a drug store until his death in 1859."

"Which is where my half of the websites came in," Kylie continued, "it was suspected that Dr. Barrow died of cancer, but even more suspicious, the wife just 'ran off to Spain' , which apparently no one questioned, leaving the drug store in the hands of the assistant, Herman Mudgett with zero suspicion whatsoever."

"The wife just ran off to Spain?" Sherlock asked in disgust, "Just ran off and no one even questioned it? I didn't think it was possible for the Yard to be stupider than they are now."

"If no one reported it, how would they have known to look into it?" Kylie asked.

"I would have."

Kylie just raised an eyebrow at him, silently calling his bullshit before she sighed, knowing an argument was futile before moving on.

"Anyways, Mudgett took over the shop after Mrs. Borrow disappeared/left for Spain, he added an additional two stories and converted it to a hotel."

"Mudgett was the one to create the plans in the first place," Sherlock said looking up at her, remembering this part of the legend of the hotel, "He kept the blueprints a secret and used three different builders to build it in stages. The World's Fair was in London in 1862. He told others that he wanted the hotel to be a part of the fair and an experience like none before."

"Exactly," Kylie stated, "The conspiracy site I originally found stated that the missing people began right after the opening of the hotel in 1861."

"And there has been over 200 disappearances since."

"50 in the last ten years… how has no one seen this?" Kylie muttered to herself.

Sherlock looked up at her.

"What?" he asked as he quickly got up to read over Kylie's shoulder.

Kylie looked at him in slight alarm as his face changed, reading the fifty names of the disappearances over the last decade.

"What?"

Sherlock didn't respond, he just blinked a few times before he silently walked back to his chair, sitting and staring at his own computer, trying to act as if he was reading.

Kylie looked at him suspiciously, trying to connect the dots and read his body language.

She softened as one reason jumped out to her.

"You can't beat yourself up for not seeing this," she told Sherlock.

He didn't respond. He just began typing a little too forcefully, telling Kylie she was right on target.

She ran a hand through her hair and stared at him. She was at a loss as of what to do. He was beating himself up- most others would think this was because he ego was hurt or he was mad that he missed a puzzle right under his nose, but Kylie knew that wasn't the reason. Sherlock Holmes was a great man. Others belittled him to be a manic sociopath with a perpetual need to stroke his ego. Sure, they were arguably right sometimes, but once you got close to the man, it was easy to see that he hated injustices. He was fully aware that he had the power to stop these terrible, horrible crimes, and he would never admit it, but guilt was wracking him that he hadn't seen the pattern and put an end to this terror.

How to fix this however? That was another story. Sherlock wasn't one to "talk things out" or feel better because someone told him not to "worry about it". In fact, part of her worried if she pushed this any farther, he would push her away and whatever they were starting… would no longer be starting.

She couldn't however, just sit idol and watch him torture himself with guilt.

Making up her mind, she got up, yanking the purple shirt she was still wearing down slightly as she wandered around the table, sitting on the arm of his chair watching him brood over his laptop.

She couldn't help but to run a hand through his hair and down his bare back as she kissed his temple.

"No one could have made that connection," she told him quietly as she traced the muscles of his back with her fingers, "this began over 100 years ago. Plus, the only ones who have found the trend wear tin foil hats and thing aliens are being kept secret by the government. Who the hell believes those yahoo's anyhow?"

"Kylie, its obvious," Sherlock said in disgust before he could stop himself, "it was right there… and I missed it."

"We all did. You, me, Lestrade, John, the Yard…"

"With your inferior minds, it doesn't surprise me," Sherlock added.

Kylie sighed heavily and rolled her eyes.

_Well at least his ego was still there…_

"All of these people- mainly young women disappeared after staying or working at the hotel. The reason they were missing was poorly formed and obvious. 'Oh, she just went to California to visit relatives. She liked it so much, she decide to stay.' 'She didn't tell me what she was doing, but she said something about going to Yorkshire to see her boyfriend.' I mean who is supposed to believe that and not have it looked into?"

"It wasn't reported to you," Kylie told him as she rubbed circles on his back, "How were you supposed to even know about it?"

He didn't respond, he just kept staring at the screen.

_Talking about it didn't work… _

_A distraction? Would that work?  
_

"Tell me," she asked as she began to play with the hair at the nape of his neck, "if everyone thinks that the Castle Hotel is haunted, why do people stay there? How does it stay open?"

"Thrill seekers, ghost hunters, and skeptics. Not may people stay there and foot traffic is low," Sherlock stiffened and looked up at her curiously, "So how does it stay open?"

"Paying staff, bills, property taxes, it's a hole in the logic."

"We need to find the employees," Sherlock told her, the spark of a case back in his eyes, "We need to question them."

Kylie smiled at him before wagging her eyebrows as he snatched his phone off the table, texting, whom she assumed was Lestrade.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Sherlock looked up in confusion as Kylie snatched her phone, quickly turning off the alarm.

"Damn," Kylie muttered as she leapt up and looked at Sherlock, "I cant believe its already seven."

Sherlock gave her a strange look as he watched her look wildly around for her suitcase through all the boxes.

"What's at seven?" Sherlock asked.

"I have a meeting with the Dean of the University in an hour at Bart's to talk about my position and to sign paperwork and such."

Sherlock kept staring at her in confusion as she flipped open a suitcase extracting a dress and a pair of heels before rushing off into the bathroom.

Sherlock stared in bewilderment at the bathroom door. He didn't even have a moment to digest the thought before Mary and John waltzed into the flat. Both of them stopped in their tracks at the sight of boxes and furniture covering the living room.

"What in the hell?" John asked as his eyes surveyed the flat, before falling on Sherlock. His eyebrows shot up in slight shock, "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

Sherlock didn't even look at him, he just glowered at his laptop, slamming his phone down as his face turned bright red.

"I think Kylie got a little love this morning," Mary grinned as she walked through the flat, looking at the boxes.

"Oh for Gods sake," Sherlock muttered as he stood up and stormed out of the room and into the bedroom.

Mary laughed as John turned to her.

"As amusing and fun as this is to torment him, will you leave him alone about it for a bit?"

Mary frowned at her fiancé.

"I don't follow. You couldn't wait for him to get back together with Kylie."

"It _just_ happened," John told her, "I'm afraid if we harass him about it too much, he'll shove Kylie away before they can establish anything and the whole cycle we just went through will repeat itself."

Mary smiled and walked up to John, running a hand up his chest before kissing him, "You're a damn good friend John Watson," she muttered before she kissed him once more.

"Oh, GOD!" Sherlock said in disgust as he walked back into the room with a fresh shirt on, "Cant you go make out in your old flat? You did move out for that reason, didn't you?"

"No, its because I missed all of these conversations," John stated sarcastically as Mary pulled away from him.

Sherlock just huffed and began sorting the photos on the table.

"So," Mary said as she sat in the chair across from Sherlock that Kylie had previously occupied, "I'm assuming Mycroft dropped off all of Kylie's old stuff?"

Sherlock's head snapped up towards her with disbelief, "You knew?" he asked.

Mary smiled as she picked up a scrap of paper, "We all knew the two of you would get back together. You're too perfect for each other."

Sherlock looked at her without any idea of how to respond.

Mary just smiled in response before Kylie came back out into the room.

"Oh, hey guys," she said as she was trying to put on a pair of earrings, tucking her mother's ring she wore on a chain into a business like dress that fit her perfectly. Her hair was pinned back as her glasses adorned her face.

"Hey," Mary greeted, "Since when do you wear glasses?"

"Since I was hospitalized for a skull fracture from our favorite Ripper impersonator," Kylie told her as she balanced to put on her heels, "its probably temporary, but unless I can blow it up on a computer, I cant see it."

"Interview?" John asked as she began trying to find files around the mess of the flat.

"No, meeting with the Dean," Kylie told him as she looked around her wildly, "I'm about to head over to Bart's…"

Kylie kept looking around the flat for her workbag, trailing off mid-sentence. John stole a glance at Sherlock, who was trying his damnedest not to stare at her. Mary stole a fleeting glance at John, trying to hide her smile, which told John that she had noticed the same thing.

"Here it is," Kylie said as she threw the file into the bag and grabbed her coat, "Alright, I'm off."

Sherlock stood up and grabbed his coat as well, "I'll go with you. I want to take another look at the evidence."

Kylie smiled as she put on her coat, heading towards the door.

"You two coming as well?"

"No, I need to head into work," Mary said as she got up.

"Come on, John," Sherlock said as he put on his coat, leaving his collar up, "I need my blogger."

** *(&amp;# (*&amp;#*( &amp; #**

"So, why are we really here?" John asked Sherlock as he leaned up against the counter of the lab, "There is nothing new to look at on this case, Sherlock. Oh, and did I mention that Mycroft has called me four times asking about the Thames House? Four."

"I'll put my best man onto it," Sherlock told him as he looked through his microscope.

"Uh, no," John said shortly, "No, I am never doing that again. Not after the deal with the Bruce Partington plans."

"Why, you solved it," Sherlock said as he pulled away from the microscope to look at the screen beside it.

"No, you did, as you so often reminded me for the next three months."

"See."

"What?"

"What do you see?" Sherlock reiterated as he pointed to the screen beside him.

John walked over to get a better look at the screen. When he did, he raised an eyebrow at Sherlock.

"It's the same thing Kylie showed us from yesterday."

"This is from the first victim," Sherlock told him with a slight smile.

John looked back at the screen in bewilderment, "So he was defleshed and cremated as well?"

Sherlock nodded and opened his mouth to say something when the computer beeped.

1 MATCH FOUND

"Perfect," he muttered with a smile as he typed a few buttons before a photograph appeared on the screen.

"Victor Melbourne?" John read.

"It's the first victim," Sherlock told him, "I was able to extract DNA from one of the osteons."

"He was a cop," John read, "A member of Scotland Yard."

"He must have been onto something," Sherlock muttered more to himself than to John, "Otherwise, why would the killer kill him? He knew too much, that's the only reason to take the risk of killing a cop; someone who would have been missed."

"Hey," Kylie said as she walked into the lab, shoving a few files into her bag, "You guys find anything?"

"The first victim was a member of Scotland Yard," John informed her.

Kylie's head shot up in shock.

"What?" she asked as she walked over to look at the screen. Her breath caught in her throat as she instantly recognized the photo on the screen staring back at her.

"Victor? Victor was the first victim?" she said in disbelief.

Both Sherlock and John looked at her in slight shock.

"You knew him?" John asked.

"Yeah," Kylie said quietly, unable to take her eyes off of the photo, "He was partnered with Dimmock. We never worked together, but he asked for my expertise a couple of times. His wife had just gotten pregnant."

"What did he ask you?" Sherlock asked her immediately.

Kylie kept staring at the picture.

"Kylie."

Her eyes finally came off the photo, looking at Sherlock, "What did Melbourne ask for your expertise on?"

Kylie shook her head, "Just a couple sets of remains that had been sold to medical schools. Some of the higher end schools are able to afford real human skeletons for their students to practice on from people who have donated their bodies to science."

Sherlock looked back at the screen thinking while Kylie frowned.

"Why? Do you think he was connected to this?" Kylie asked.

Sherlock didn't answer. He just sat there for a moment before suddenly leaping up, grabbing his coat, walking out of the lab.

Kylie sighed and just looked at John, "You think that we would get used to his leaving without a word?"

John shook his head, "I don't think we ever will."

#$#*#&amp;

"So you think that Victor was looking into something at the Castle Hotel that got him killed?" Kylie asked as they rode in the cab.

"Exactly, why else would the killer take the risk of killing at member of Scotland Yard?" Sherlock explained to her.

Kylie sighed and turned to look out the window. She liked Victor, he was a good man and a good detective. She had even been introduced to his wife. She had just found out that she was pregnant and she and Victor had been glowing with joy. Now, their child would have to grow up without a father.

Kylie felt Sherlock cover her hand with his and his thumb stroke her hand calmingly. Kylie looked down at her hand and smiled before looking up to see Sherlock staring out of the window as the cab drove on. John smirked at them as he tried to avoid looking at them.

His friend really cared about the woman next to him. It was rare to see Sherlock Holmes be comforting. His idea of comfort was to bombard you with facts, cold hard rational facts, not be….emotionally supportive. Kylie was the only person that John had seen him like that with, he really loved her. Now, if he ever admitted that to himself or Kylie was another story.

"So what are we doing next? Talking to the hotel staff?" Kylie asked.

"That, and look into cases that Victor Melbourne was working on," Sherlock said as the cab slowed and he shoved some bills at the driver before hopping out of the cab. Kylie climbed out after him, taking Sherlock's hand as he helped her out of the cab.

John shut the door as the three of them began to walk into Scotland Yard in hope that they would find some answers.

**Yes, I do know that DNA testing would take much longer than an hour or so that, but for story plot reasons, I needed to move it along. **

**Anyhow, thoughts? Feelings?**

**Review?**


	27. Chapter 27

**You guys are the best ever! Thank you so much to all of you for your comments and reviews! I deeply appreciate it, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. **

**Anyhow, here is the next one! Enjoy!**

Kylie, Sherlock, and John walked into the Yard, making their way towards Lestrade's office in a tense silence.

Kylie felt as if a hole was being gnawed in her stomach with each step closer towards Lestrade's office. She glanced over at Dimmock's office, feeling that hole in her stomach grow instantly into a pit. She stopped walking as she saw a distraught Mrs. Melbourne talking to Dimmock. She was pregnant- almost due pregnant, looking worried beyond belief Dimmock was attempting to comfort her.

"Kylie?" Sherlock asked as both he and John had both stopped and were staring at her in question.

Kylie didn't answer, she couldn't take her eyes off of Mrs. Melbourne. She could see the woman's world crumbling beneath her.

"Ky," Sherlock said more forcefully.

"Victor," Kylie said softly, "You are sure its him?"

Sherlock narrowed his eyes at her, not following, "Yes, of course, why?"

Kylie sighed and looked back at Dimmock and Mrs. Melbourne.

"Someone has to tell his wife."

Kylie walked over towards Dimmock's office, softly knocking on the door and sat down calmly. Sherlock watched from afar as she took Mrs. Melbourne's hand and began explaining Victor's death. Dimmock leaned over putting his head in hands as Mrs. Melbourne began to sob loudly.

Sherlock watched it curiously; he didn't understand how people grieved so much. Death was imminent. But as he watched Kylie with this woman, he began to understand. Its not the fact that people actually died- its much more of the fact that someone had been taken out of their lives. His mind allowed him for a brief moment to imagine of Kylie or John had been taken from him- he wasn't sure how he would react… if he would move on, or act in a similar way to Dimmock and Victor Melbourne's grieving wife.

"She's good with the vicitm's families," John commented softly beside him as he watched the scene as well, "Charlie told me that she's unfortunately had a bit of practice doing it from when they worked together."

Sherlock didn't say anything, he just kept watching Kylie speak with Dimmock and the wife. He didn't understand this woman. How could someone be so logical and brilliant, and yet be such a kind, empathetic person. Kylie genuinely cared about almost everyone she met. Sherlock had no idea why or how she was able to do it, but he had always thought that kindness went hand in hand with ignorance. Brilliance and logic were mutually exclusive to empathy and humanity.

Kylie hugged Mrs. Melbourne and handed her a card before turning to Dimmock and hugging him as well before walking out back towards Sherlock and John. She didn't look up at them, but kept fiddling with her bag.

"You okay?" John asked.

"I wont be until we catch this guy," Kylie told him as she reached him and continued to walk towards Lestrade's office.

John raised his eyebrow at her response, glancing at a confused looking Sherlock who quickly followed after the woman. John audibly exhaled and followed after the pair of them.

John hustled to meet up with his linger legged friends, but then slowed down as he watched Sherlock fall into step with Kylie, stepping closer to her as his fingers "casually" brushed up against her hand, intertwining a few fingers with hers.

John smirked to himself

_Yeah… he had it bad for that woman…_

He saw Kylie look up and smile in thanks as Sherlock looked nearly everywhere, but at her.

_Sherlock wasn't the only one who had it bad apparently. _

They finally made it into Lestrade's office to find not only the DI, but someone else as well.

"Charlie," Kylie smiled happily as her fingers slipped out of Sherlock's to go and hug her partner.

John quickly glanced at Sherlock, seeing him glower immediately. It was obvious he had a strong dislike of being dropped by Kylie to go and hug the taller, handsome blonde man. John sighed, knowing he needed to talk to Sherlock soon. Being in denial about his feelings was one thing, but a possessive, jealous Sherlock was a whole new ball game.

"Hey you," Charlie said as he hugged her tightly, kissing her cheek before he stepped back and looked her up and down appreciatively, "Like the glasses and the outfit."

"Your words say 'nice comment', but your eyes say 'pervert'," Kylie commented as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, can you do me a favor?" Charlie asked with a smile.

Kylie just stared at him, refusing to respond.

"Can you take off your glasses, and shake out your hair and say 'Mr. Edwards, do you know what the penalty is for an overdue book?'"

John swallowed uneasily as he saw Sherlock tense and his fists clench.

Kylie just stared at him, expressionless.

"Tell me, do women actually fall for that crap?" Kylie asked, "Because if they do, that says a lot about the decline of education."

Charlie just grinned, "Nine times out of ten."

Kylie smiled briefly in return before reaching up and smacking Charlie on the side of the head, causing him to yelp loudly.

"That's for sexually harassing me and being a jackass," she told him firmly as she walked towards Lestrade, "We need all of Victor Melbourne's case files and we want to interview all the staff at the Castle Hotel."

Lestrade, whom had been smirking at the ordeal between Kylie and Charlie suddenly frowned, "Melbourne's cases? Why? What does he have to do with this case?"

"He's dead," Sherlock said simply as he strategically placed himself between Kylie and Charlie, unconsciously laying a protective hand on her lower back, before removing it immediately.

Lestrade's jaw dropped.

Kylie glanced over at Sherlock, silently berating him for his bluntness.

"He was the first victim," she told Lestrade somberly, "DNA confirmed it."

Lestrade sighed and slumped back in his chair, running a hand down his face in despair, "Someone needs to tell his wife. And Dimmock. God, how on earth do I tell them?"

"I already did," Kylie said softly.

Lestrade looked up at her in shock before nodding in a solemn thanks.

"The files…?" Sherlock hinted, earing a sigh of exasperation from Kylie and a glare.

"He means we're sorry Lestrade," Kylie added in for him, "We knew the two of you were friends."

"We?" Charlie asked suspiciously.

Kylie rolled her eyes as Sherlock shut his and huffed slightly, causing John to laugh to himself.

"Thanks," Lestrade muttered as he got up, "I'll get you those files."

"Every one he has ever worked on!" Sherlock hollered after him.

Kylie turned and looked at him, "He just lost a friend, cant you be a little sympathetic with that," she asked as she stepped towards him.

"Oh, you two so did it," Charlie announced with a large grin.

Kylie turned to look at him as Sherlock furiously shut his eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"You two banged," Charlie said simply.

Kylie stepped back and crossed her arms at her partner, "You have zero proof of that even if we had, not that its your business or even a discussion point."

"Hand on your back, you saying we, body language… " Charlie went through with a wave of his hand, "All of it equals, 'we had rough dirty sex'."

Kylie glowered at her old partner, completely fuming as she struggled to find the proper words to manufacture a death threat. Sherlock quickly grabbed Kylie's hand and dragged her out of the room and down the hallway into an empty room.

Kylie sighed, thankful for the quiet as she rubbed her eyes under her glasses.

"Why?" Sherlock ranted, "Why is everyone so fascinated by the fact that we are together?"

"I don't know," Kylie said as she sighed, leaning up against the wall.

She prayed this wouldn't make him pull away from her out of embarrassment. The last thing that she wanted was to lose him again. She had to make a compromise.

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't want you to be embarrassed, so if you want, you can tell everyone we broke up and we can keep it a secret so that we stop getting these comments," she told him as she looked at the ground.

_Having a secret relationship is better than losing him… you know that. _

_Then why am I not okay with this?_

"I'm not embarrassed," Sherlock told her simply, while looking at her slightly confused.

Her head shot up as she looked at him, "You aren't?"

"No," Sherlock told her, now extremely confused, "Why? Are you?"

"No!" Kylie told him, "I just thought…. I just thought that… its stupid."

Sherlock just kept staring at her.

Kylie sighed, "I just thought that with all of this attention on us, you would pull away from me again. I just don't want that to happen more than anything," she said quickly, her voice softening throughout as she looked at the ground.

There was a pause of awkward silence before footsteps tentatively padded towards her. It was only a moment before Sherlock's feet appeared in her line of sight, stopping in front of her. His hand softly touched her chin, lifting her head to look him in the eye.

"I'm not embarrassed," Sherlock told her firmly as he looked at her, the awkwardness of emotion only subtly in his body language, "I just don't understand why our relationship is so fascinating to others."

Kylie looked at him before smiling and walking into his arms, hugging him as she nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck, breathing in his comforting scent. Sherlock tentitively wrapped is arms around her, before sighing in relief. She felt his muscles relax as he began to rub her back, holding her there.

Sherlock couldn't help but thing about how perfect this woman was. How she fit like a puzzle piece into his arms, and how comfortable it was to just stand here holding her close. He never thought he would see the day where human contact became pleasurable, but once more, this woman had proved him wrong.

Kylie pulled back and kissed him tenderly before pulling back and running her hands down his chest, "Lestrade probably has the files by now."

Sherlock just looked at her and nodded, kissing her once more chastely before Sherlock opened the door, placing a hand on Kylie's back as they walked out together.

"Dr. Gibbs? Mr. Holmes?"

Kylie and Sherlock froze in shock.

_Great…the one person that they wanted to see the least when they were walking out of a darkened, empty room._

They both turned around to see Dr. Witham standing there gaping at them as he was holding files.

"Are you two…?" he asked.

"Nope," they both lied before turning and walking away.

"Wait!" Witham said as he followed them down the hallway, "Were you two in there, alone? And when did you get back Dr. Gibbs?"

"Two days ago and no, there was a stripper in there too," Kylie said sarcastically as she walked faster.

"Wait what?" Witham asked as they walked into Lestrade's office.

"Laters," Sherlock said slamming the door shut in Witham's face and locking it behind them.

John, Lestrade and Charlie looked at them with a raised eyebrow as Witham banged on the glass.

"What?" Sherlock asked, "He's annoying."

Kylie stifled a laugh before turning her attention to the three boxes on the table, "Is this all of them?" she asked.

Lestrade nodded and sat down in his chair watching Witham retreat away in despair, "Every case he ever worked on."

Sherlock nodded, "We'll take it back to Baker Street," he said picking up one of the boxes.

Kylie went to grab one when Charlie and John grabbed them both from her.

"I can carry one you know?' Kylie said as they all went to leave.

"Well, I want to see your place," Charlie told her as they walked out.

"Sherlock," Lestrade said before he left the room.

Sherlock turned and looked at him slightly confused.

"Do you have a second?" he asked.

"We're working the case…"

"Just shut the door," Lestrade told him as he rolled his eyes.

Sherlock turned to see Kylie, John and Charlie walking out the door with the boxes and he dropped the box and shut the door behind him.

"Are you sure about this thing with you and Kylie?" Lestrade asked.

Now it was Sherlock's turn to roll his eyes.

"I'm serious Sherlock!" Lestrade said looking at him, "She loves you and it about killed her when you were a complete dick to her before she left London. You hurt her and I don't want to see her go through that hell again. That, and if you do hurt her, her father will skin you alive."

Sherlock looked at him.

"Don't start this with her again unless you are sure you care for her, because I know you. You're confused. You don't know how to deal with feelings, but you can't be wishy-washy anymore. You need to know," Lestrade told him.

Sherlock stood up and looked at him pointedly before picking up the box, "I'm sure" he said before he walked out of the room, leaving a stunned Lestrade behind.

**Thoughts feelings? Review?**


	28. Chapter 28

**Okay, so Ive been on Hiatus for ages… apologies you guys. I have actually been attempting to have a life and work and that life have left me little time for writing. I have also had little motivation to write for quite some time now as well. So Apologies. **

**Thank you to all of my reviewers and readers who keep with me after all this time! You all have no idea how it puts a smile on my face when I get feedback! **

**Here's the next one! Hope you guys enjoy!**

"What'd Lestrade want?" John asked as the group was piling into a taxi that had just pulled up.

"To annoy me," Sherlock said bitterly as he climbed into the cab after Kylie.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kylie asked yawning as Sherlock settled next to her while John and Charlie piled in across from them.

"Not much sleep last night?" Charlie asked with a grin as he shut the door.

Sherlock glared at the blonde man murderously as Kylie rolled her eyes and sighed loudly.

"I didn't, but not from what you are assuming. We were working the case, Charlie," Kylie told him as she took off her glasses and tried to rub her eyes without smearing her mascara.

"Yeah, that's why Sherlock wasn't wearing a shirt this morning," John smirked, not able to help himself.

Charlie's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning.

"What?"

"Both of you shut the hell up!" Kylie said in exasperation feeling Sherlock tense up in anger beside her. "You," she said pointing at John, "I am going to torture you so bad, you'll be begging to get married tomorrow. I already told Mary that marriages are 75% more likely to last if couples are celibate for a length of time before marriage, so get ready for your dry spell. And you," Kylie said rounding on a grinning Charlie, "You have no right to harass me about my sex life. At least it is just with one person and they don't light my clothes on fire and steal my credit cards. This is a private thing between Sherlock and I. Just because you like to share every aspect of your sex life, doesn't mean that I want mine out there too."

John just stared at her in complete betrayal, while Charlie kept grinning at her, unaffected by her threats.

"Don't knock it until you've tried it, love," Charlie told her.

Kylie sighed in despair and rolled her eyes as Sherlock turned his glare to Charlie. Charlie became slightly uneasy by the unblinking stare. He wouldn't look away, that is until Kylie laid her head on the consulting detective's shoulder, bringing him out of what looked like planning Charlie's early demise.

Sherlock looked over at her, fighting the warmth that was erupting out of him. Without thinking he reached over, placing a hand on her thigh, brushing his thumb up and down to comfort her without waking her. He didn't understand this impulse to comfort someone, yet here he was.

He felt eyes on him, causing him to look up and find Charlie and John staring at him with a smile plastered on each of their faces. He glowered, that warm feeling retreating instantly as embarrassment took over. He quickly removed his hand. He wanted to give them each a few sharp comments, but held his tongue, as he didn't want to disturb Kylie. She was jetlagged and running off of relatively no sleep for the last couple days, so he instead settled on a death glare.

The cab finally slowed to a stop, the jolting waking Kylie from her slumber. She sat up and yawned as John and Charlie climbed out of the cab to get the boxes. Sherlock climbed out next to help the still half asleep Kylie out of the cab. She wavered slightly as she tried to stand up. The exhaustion had hit her as soon as she had sat down in the cab. Sherlock caught her, steading her with an arm around her waist. She smiled up at him, before thanking him and walking to the door, as Sherlock grabbed the last box.

The group made their way up to 221B as Kylie told them to excuse the mess and to make themselves at home, much to John's dismay, as he still believed it was his flat. Kylie then disappeared into Sherlock's bedroom to change.

"Kylie brought all of this?" Charlie said as he looked around after setting down his box.

Sherlock didn't respond, but instead opened up the box he had been carrying, promptly diving into the box.

John sighed and decided to answer for him, "Yeah, Sherlock's brother kept it all in storage, unbeknownst to her."

"Wait," Charlie said as he froze, looking at the other stuff in the flat, "He lives here too?"

Sherlock stopped and looked up at him as if he were drugged, while John stifled a laugh.

"Yeah, its his flat," John supplied.

Charlie shut his eyes as a smile spread out over his face, "Wait…. Kylie moved in with him?!"

_He was going to have a field day with this…_

"Charlie," Kylie said as she walked back into the room in a pair of worn blue jeans and her father's sweatshirt, "Shut up before I kick you in the scrotum so hard, you'll never even know you had testicles."

"I don't," Charlie responded, "I'm still trying to get them back from when you were my partner."

Kylie smirked in response as she grabbed a stack of files and made her way to the couch. Sherlock's phone began ringing as she sat down next to him, curling her feet under her. She saw him glance at his phone before rolling his eyes and tossing it aside.

"Mycroft?" she asked as she donned her glasses.

Sherlock just glared at the files in annoyance, giving Kylie her answer.

"Maybe you should go over there," she suggested as she opened up the file and began reading.

"Why? Why does Mycroft always try to bore me when someone else is being so delightfully interesting?"

"Because he's an arrogant sod with a power complex, which I believe is the best way John described him." Kylie told him still looking at the file.

"Thank you, I pride myself in my description of people," John said sarcastically from the table.

"Welcome," Kylie smiled up at him before turning back to Sherlock, "It may be an interesting case though."

Sherlock smirked slightly at her prior comment, but chose not to respond to her hint to call his brother.

John's phone rang next, causing Sherlock's eyes to flick up to him.

"Great, Mycroft is calling me now," John said as he pressed silence and ignored the call.

The room fell silent once more before Kylie's phone went off. She didn't even bother looking to see who was calling as she promptly ignored it.

"Talk to him, he's your brother," Kylie stated as she settled into the couch once more to read.

Sherlock huffed next to her, making Kylie smile slightly as the room went silent once more.

RING RING RING

Kylie looked over at her phone. Not seeing her screen lit up, glanced at Sherlock's, which was dark as well. She looked up to see John checking his phone in confusion, looking up to see if it was Kylie or Sherlock.

They all suddenly realized whose phone was ringing.

"Blocked number…?" Charlie said as he picked it up.

"Wait, don't…" Kylie began, stopping herself as to not reinforce Charlie's desire to embarrass her.

"Edwards," Charlie answered, listening to the other end of the line, "Wait, you're that British guy from Kylie's office!" Charlie said as his eyes lit up, "and Sherlock's brother…"

"Charlie, don't," Kylie said knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

"So, tell me about how the two of them got together? Like did she get wasted and they humped, or was it more of the constant sexual tension I saw in States?"

"God Dammit, Charlie!" Kylie yelled as she chucked a folder at his head.

Charlie was able to duck out of the way, quickly, continuing to ask Mycroft questions, and ignore the elder Holmes. This continued on for a few moments, ending with Mycroft hanging up the phone, and Kylie tackling and slapping Charlie upside the head repeatedly.

It took John playing parent to separate Kylie and Charlie from each other on opposite sides of the room before they were able to settle down and get some work done.

They had been at it for hours. Chinese food containers, tea mugs, and shoes were scattered across the room. It was now close to seven at night, and Sherlock was the only one who was truly focused. John kept reading the same line multiple times while Charlie was spacing out against the wall. Sherlock was only brought out of his train of thought when Kylie's head fell onto his shoulder once more. He looked at her before he realized he was beginning to smile. He quickly stopped himself and refocused his mind back on the file in his hand, trying to ignore the warm-tingling going through his body.

Suddenly, all the files lined up in his mind.

Everything made perfect sense.

He sat up straight, leaping off of the couch and onto the floor, flipping through the previously read through files as Kylie nearly fell off the couch after him, waking her up with a start.

"Sherlock, what the hell?"

"It's clever… its oh so very clever," Sherlock said as he flipped through the files, confirming his hypothesis.

"What's clever?" Kylie asked as she yawned.

"Oh, it all makes perfect sense now…" Sherlock continued to rant, not hearing Kylie at all.

Kylie just stared at him with annoyance, before sighing and looking at John.

John just stared at her indifferently as a nearly manic Sherlock tore the living room to shreds, scattering files everywhere.

"You seriously didn't think he was going to answer you, did you?" John asked her, "You know him better than that."

Kylie rolled her eyes.

Sherlock suddenly sat up, gathering a few photos, grabbing his jacket and pulling it on as he strolled quickly out the door.

"COME ALONG!" he yelled back at the three others.

Charlie just gaped, thoroughly confused by the whole situation as he looked between the other two.

Kylie groaned before getting up, not bothering to change as she shoved a pair of shoes on and followed down the stairs. John sighed and rubbed his face as he grabbed his coat as well.

"So we are just leaving then?" Charlie asked him.

John grabbed his keys and gave the American a tired smile, "Welcome to life at Baker Street."

**&amp;^*&amp; #&amp;(* #(**

"The University?" Kylie asked as they all clambered out of the cab and began to walk towards the doors, "Sherlock, what the hell are we doing here?"

"The models," Sherlock informed them as they made their way up the floors.

"Models?" Charlie piped up, slight excitement in his voice.

"I somehow doubt he's referring to super models," Kylie said to her old partner, rolling her eyes, "We're at a University. I somehow doubt there's a Victoria Secret fashion show going on."

"Bone models," Sherlock corrected him as he led them into the anatomy lab of the university.

"How in the hell do you have a key to the lab?" John asked as he watched his friend open up the lab storage room, "Let alone a supply key?"

"They are probably mine," Kylie sighed, snatching them out of Sherlock's hand once he had the door open, "They are, what do you know. I'm going to have to get a safe just to keep you out of my things, aren't I?"

"I'll just break into it," Sherlock told her with a smirk as he took out a box of bone models, walking past her to the table.

Kylie shook her head and followed him over.

"What are we looking at?"

"Thirty of these models are from a Blue Shield body donor program."

"Blue Shield? Don't think I've heard of them," Kylie stated as she watched him curiously.

Sherlock smiled as he examined a skull closely, "That's because they don't exist."

"Wait," Charlie stated as he shut his eyes, trying to come to terms with what he had just heard, "You're saying that someone was selling bodies that weren't donor bodies?"

"Someone is making a profit on murder," Sherlock told him.

"How do you know its murder?" John asked, "For all we know someone could be digging up dead bodies and selling them."

"Don't be stupid John," Sherlock said as he moved on to the next model.

John stared at his friend as silence took over the room.

….

"Okay, I'll bite," Kylie said, not able to handle the silence any longer, "Why is John's point stupid. It's a possibility."

"Its not," Sherlock said as he was lost in looking at minute details on an exploding skull model.

Silence took over the room once more as the rest of the group waited for the consulting detective to expand, but none seemed to follow.

"Okay, well thanks for that explanation, it all makes sense now," John said as he leaned against a lab table and folded his arms.

"If they were murder victims, it would show up easily on the skeletal remains. People would know."

"Experts would know," Sherlock pointed out as he closed his magnifying glass, "but its well disguised."

Kylie raised her eyebrow at him, doubtfully, "Sherlock it's a model of an exploded skull, it supposed to look like that so students can see."

"Take a look then, Professor," Sherlock told her as he handed her his magnifying glass.

Kylie rolled her eyes and sighed before grabbing the magnifying glass from him and looking at the model. It took half a second for her heart to sink into her stomach as she began to notice the find detail etched on the bone.

"Oh my God…" Kylie muttered, unable to help herself as Sherlock smirked triumphantly.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"The model," Kylie said breathlessly as she looked up at her friends in shock, "Its real."

"We know its real," Charlie said in confusion.

"No, I mean the injury," Kylie said as she went back to looking at the model, "This was thought to be a very good explosion model, but the thing is, it the flesh was taken off while blood was still pumping."

"What?!"

"Most of the time you can see blood stains on the bone or when the stains have been removed in the etching, but this bone is one of the first I have seen to have none of that… just acid marking in the bone…" Kylie said in shock still.

"Do they commonly use acid to make models?" John asked.

"No," Kylie told him shaking her head, "Insects are actually the gentlest way to clean the bone. Most companies and high end models use them as to not mark the bone."

"So they are murder victims," Charlie stated in surprise, pulling out his phone to begin background, as Kylie began going through the rest of the models.

"So let me get this straight," John said suddenly, "Your thought is that this guy kills victims and makes money from disposing of the bodies and selling them as a body donor company?"

"That's the standing theory," Sherlock told him.

"Blimey," John said letting out a breath, "Its actually pretty clever."

"Well I just did background on this Blue Shield company," Charlie stated as he read his phone, "Blue Shield enterprises is listed as being owned and operated by a Winston Mudgett."

Sherlock perked up as Kylie's head snapped towards him.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Mudgett as in Herman Mudgett?" Kylie asked breathlessly.

"As in the original builder of the Castle Hotel who passed it down through his family to his grandson, Winston," Sherlock thought out loud as his hands folded into a thinking position.

Kylie turned and looked at Sherlock, "They are killing people at the Castle Hotel and selling the bodies for profit."

Sherlock didn't look at her as he was already beginning to wander through his mind palace, putting the pieces together, "I guess we know how the staff is getting paid," he muttered to her before he shut his eyes and began to think.

**I know it wasn't the most exciting chapter, but review?**


	29. Chapter 29

**A massive thanks to all of my amazing reviewers! You guys certainly are the greatest ever! I always appreciate your thoughts and feedback, so thanks so much for being amazing!**

**Here's the next one!**

It wasn't until around midnight that Kylie and Sherlock walked back into Baker Street carrying four large boxes full of models they had "borrowed" from the University.

Kylie set her two boxes down and looked around at the mess of the flat helplessly. Between the packing boxes Mycroft had saved for her in storage, her suitcases, rubbish from their investigation, and now case files everywhere, she felt like she was helpless. She had so much to do. She sighed and ran a hand through her short waves as her stomach growled. No food all day was catching up with her. She had forgotten what life at Baker Street was like, and knowing him there would be no food at all in the flat.

_Add going to the store to the list_

At this time of night, everything would be closed. So, that won't get done tonight…

She at least needed to make a dent in this. She wouldn't be able to focus properly until some of it was done anyway.

She felt eyes on her. She looked up and caught Sherlock staring at her curiously. She smiled at him briefly before picking up a box Mycroft had left for her and began to walk up the stairs to John's room… well her room…well the spare room…

She struggled up the stairs, feeling her shoulder pull. She got the top and pressed the door open, stopping in slight surprise to see her bed and old dresser already set up. She smiled; at least Mycroft was good for something. She set the box down and noticed the large closet in the corner.

She hadn't unpacked or been able to get settled, as her life had been quite a whirlwind since she arrived. Knowing Sherlock and his anally organized sock index, she would get hardly any room in the dresser or closet.

_Good thing they had two rooms. _

Kylie sighed and walked backed down the stairs to find Sherlock examining the models with a magnifying glass once more. She grabbed one of her cases and her box of hangers before making her way back up the stairs.

"What are you doing?" she heard Sherlock say from the living room. Knowing him, he hadn't even bothered to look up and notice she wasn't even in the room anymore.

"Unpacking," Kylie yelled back as she plopped her suitcase on the bed, rubbing her shoulder.

_This stupid injury_

She rolled her head trying to loosen the compensating muscles of her shoulder before unzipping her suitcase, and beginning to unload the contents. She sorted the clothes and important objects on the bed before she came across her photo album. She smiled as she flipped through the familiar pages, her smile broadening as she saw the faces of the people she loved so much. She flipped through pictures of family and friends over the years, stopping at the last photo of her and Toby outside of her San Diego home.

_God, she missed that dog. _

Before she came to London, she sadly had to give Toby up. She knew he couldn't live in Baker Street. He was an active dog, who needed a yard to run and play in. Heaven only knew what experiments Sherlock would run on him if he came here. She had been going to give him to Charlie, but when he had decided to come to London as well, she obviously couldn't anymore. She had been trying to get ahold of her father or Abby to take him, when the little girl next store had come home from school and asked if she could play with him. Rose was about six and the only child of two loving, wonderful parents Kylie had befriended during her time in San Diego. Toby and the little girl adored each other, so leaving him with Rose and her family had been a no brainer. That dog would be loved and cared for, and that was what mattered… no matter how selfishly she wanted him here in London with her.

Kylie sighed as she removed that picture, finding a frame in one of the boxes and placing it in, smiling as she set the frame up on the nightstand before she set to sorting out the suitcase.

She continued to sort and hang up her clothes, reflecting on her life in the last 48 hours.

It was almost surreal to her at the moment. She was back in London, solving cases with a great job and a wonderful man at her side. It had all happened so quickly it seemed like a dream. Her mind drifted back to that first night back in London, unable to help the smile coming over her face. It had been absolutely wonderful. She had been frightened for a long time about what her first time after her assault would be like. Thomas had been her first and only before Sherlock, and that hadn't ended well for her. Yet with Sherlock, concerns that she had had when she was with Thomas hadn't even come to mind. She had been fearful of flashbacks, yet none had come… she couldn't help but feel safe and loved in Sherlock's arms, pushing the memories of Thomas farther and farther away.

She sighed as she put the last of the clothes away, zipping up the suitcase and putting it under the bed before making to walk back down the stairs to gather her other case, jumping slightly as she turned to see Sherlock standing in the doorway, staring at her with slight confusion.

She paused, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"I'm unpacking," she responded with slight amusement, "There isn't enough room in your closet, so I figured Id put them in here."

Sherlock's eyes wandered around the room, taking in every detail, before landing back on Kylie.

Kylie narrowed her eyes, trying to read the man.

_Why was he being awkward again?_

"Is that okay?" she asked, "or would you prefer something else?"

Sherlock shook his head slightly, "Fine."

Kylie raised an eyebrow at him before walking over and putting her arms around him and kissing his lips softly.

"You sure about that?" she asked as she pulled away only slightly.

"I'm always sure," Sherlock responded as he recaptured her lips once more.

Kylie smirked into his lips as she pulled back "Uh-huh," she muttered to him as she gave him one last peck before pulling away and walking past him down the stairs to get her other case.

Sherlock just stood there, trying to figure out what was going on with him. He wasn't slow or thick by any stretch, but why on earth did this woman draw out emotions and confusion he never thought were possible.

He heard banging up the staircase before a large crash and yelp.

Sherlock rushed to the top of the staircase, seeing Kylie lifting up the dropped suitcase with a wince and a tilt. He knew immediately it was her shoulder, and kicked himself. Why on earth hadn't he done it for her? It had only been two and a half weeks since she had been stabbed.

He cursed under his breath quietly as he rushed down the stairs and snatched the heavy case out of her hand, lugging it down to the bottom.

"Sherlock! What are you doing? I have to unpack," Kylie objected.

"What did you do to it?" Sherlock asked her.

"Do to what?" Kylie responded.

"Shoulder, what did you do to your shoulder?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," Kylie told him as he approached her, "I just dropped the case. My gripped slipped."

He reached out to touch her shoulder, causing her to flinch no matter how hard she tried to brush it off, causing him to raise an eyebrow at her.

Kylie held eye contact with him for a moment before she sighed, "Fine, I did something, but it will be fine."

"Let me look," Sherlock asked her.

Kylie smirked and raised an eyebrow, unable to help herself, "Are you just trying to get me to take my clothes off," she joked as Sherlock frowned at her, seeing the pain in her eyes.

Sherlock just stared at her, "No, I just want to take a look at your shoulder."

Kylie rolled her eyes, trying not to show the pain on her face.

"Its fine," she told him.

Sherlock just stared at her.

"You aren't going to let this go, are you?" Kylie asked.

…

"Fine," Kylie griped, knowing he wasn't going to give up. She made to take off her jacket and yelped slightly as the jacket pulled her shoulder in an extremely uncomfortable way.

Sherlock flinched at her pain as he dove to try to help her, leaving her in her t-shirt. He began to slowly lift it up, trying to be sure not to hurt her anymore. Once the shirt was successfully off, he drew in a sharp breath at her shoulder. It was bright red, swollen and hot. The scar on her shoulder looked angry and red as the damage was quickly spreading.

"Come on," Sherlock said as he grabbed her shirt and coat before walking into the kitchen, coming back into the room with a bag of well…. Something.

"Put this on your shoulder," Sherlock told her as he handed her the bag, "You need to reduce the inflammation." 

Kylie took the bag suspiciously as she watched him pick up his phone and went into their room.

Kylie frowned before she looked down at the bag he had handed her, horrified; yet not surprised.

"Are these human fingers?" Kylie asked him as he walked out holding a tank top and her father's sweatshirt.

"It was for an experiment," Sherlock shrugged, "Hold it to your shoulder, will you?"

Kylie stared at him in disbelief, "Sherlock, I am not icing my shoulder with a bag of frozen human fingers. Seriously, we have a bag of fingers, but not ice?"

Sherlock tolled his eyes at her before taking the bag of fingers from her and setting them on the table and turning to her with the shirt.

"I'll just put on the sweatshirt on," Kylie told him, "It's more comfortable."

"I'm not letting John see you in just that," Sherlock told her, referencing the bra she was currently standing in.

"John?" Kylie asked in confusion.

John and Charlie had gone their separate ways after the University. Charlie was staying in a hotel near the Yard, while John had returned to his and Mary's place.

"Yes," Sherlock told her, staring at her as if she had hit her head, "John is a doctor now, isn't he?'

"I'm fine, Sherlock! I don't need to see a doctor, or John. All I need is a little rest, which I will do once I clean this place up a bit and finish unpacking."

Kylie stubbornly got up, making to grab a box and yelping in pain, trying to hide it as best as she could.

Sherlock snatched the box away from her, thoroughly irritated with the woman.

"You are hurt. You need to be examined by a doctor. Now please, can you put this shirt on so we can go see John?"

"Sherlock, you are over reacting…"

'PLEASE?!" 

Kylie looked at him, taken aback. For the first time ever, she saw Sherlock freaking out slightly. She could tell he was worried about her, and as much as her shoulder hurt, she really didn't want to go see John, who would lecture her, then lecture Sherlock, which would annoy Sherlock, and then Sherlock would be pissy for the next three days… that and she didn't want to wear a sling.

However, as stubborn as she was, she felt herself crumbling.

"Okay," she agreed quietly as she grabbed the tank top from him.

She noticed his body sag slightly with relief as he gently helped her dress and dragging her out of the flat into the cold London night.

***$() # _)(# _)**

"WHAT IN THE HELL?" they heard John say from the other side of the door as Sherlock pounded loudly on it.

Kylie chuckled slightly as they heard a crash and then a lot of swearing coming from John before he opened the door, wild eyed and angry with his hair a mess, dressed in his bathrobe.

"Sherlock?" John asked as he stared at his friend in slight disbelief, yet not surprised at the same time. He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, "Do you realize what time it is?"

"Yes," Sherlock said bluntly as he pushed inside the flat, "Kylie is hurt. I texted you."

John watched him walk in, as his face became completely void of anger as he turned to Kylie with concern.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I'm fine, John. I just need some ice."

"She's not fine," Sherlock told John pointedly as he began to wander around the flat, not so subtly snooping.

"What happened?" John inquired as Mary came out of the bedroom, pulling on her robe.

"What's going on?" she asked as she saw John ushering Kylie into the flat.

"Sherlock is over-reacting," Kylie told her as Mary walked up to hug her.

The moment Mary's body touched her shoulder; Kylie flinched and tried not to yelp.

Mary leapt back and looked at her friend in alarm.

"Am I 'over-reacting'?" Sherlock asked her sarcastically.

Kylie glared as Mary gaped at her.

"Are you okay?"

"She hurt herself being an idiot," Sherlock informed her.

"Yes, because unpacking and cleaning the flat is, idiotic, as you say," Kylie retorted.

"Its, too late for this," John stated, "I'm going to take a guess its your shoulder bothering you?" John asked her.

"I'm fine. I'll live," Kylie told everyone, earning a loud sigh from Sherlock.

"Okay, lets take a look then," John told her as he walked over and began to help Kylie remover her sweatshirt.

"Jesus!" Mary exclaimed when she caught sight of it, "You did this unpacking?"

"Kylie, were you lugging the cases and boxes around?" John asked in a severely father-like tone.

Kylie just stared at him, knowing the lecture that was coming.

"You were stabbed two and a half weeks ago!" John began to lecture, causing both Kylie and Sherlock to roll their eyes, while John continued to examine her shoulder; prodding it and trying to maneuver the shoulder as best he could without hurting her.

"You definitely did some damage," he announced after he finished his exam, "a lot of damage actually to the repairing tissue…" John stopped suddenly and stared at her in disbelief, "You're supposed to be in your sling, aren't you?"

Kylie just avoided the gaze of everyone in the room.

"Unbelievable," Sherlock muttered in a furious tone.

Kylie rolled her eyes, "Like you would still be in it."

"I wasn't stabbed in the shoulder," Sherlock countered.

Kylie sighed in annoyance, fighting not to roll her eyes once more.

"Okay," John told her, "you need to ice it… a lot," he told her pointedly. "And rest, which means a sling. I will know if you took it off, and if you do, I'll stitch it to your arm. I'll look at it again tomorrow. You'll need a scan and maybe surgery, but let's hope not. Oh, and don't lift anything…"

Kylie made a face at John's snide remark as he turned and got his medical bag out of the closet.

He fiddled with the bag pulling out a new syringe and a bottle.

"I'm going to give you something for the pain," John told her as he filled the syringe, "You aren't allergic to anything, correct?"

"Just being nagged," Kylie said sarcastically, "But seriously, I don't need meds. I'm fine."

"You aren't," Mary said as she brought in an ice pack and a sling.

"Seriously?" Kylie protested, "You two just have slings laying around the house?"

"Because we are friends with you and him," Mary joked nudging her head at Sherlock, "That, and we both have medical degrees."

Kylie looked up at her friend who just smiled at her as she helped her put her sweatshirt back on, before placing the ice pack under her sweat shirt and wrapping it with what seemed like saran wrap before placing the swing on, immobilizing it properly.

John knelt down in front of her once Mary was finished and pushed up Kylie's sleeve, wiping it with alcohol.

"I don't need pain meds, John," Kylie told him earnestly.

"I can see the pain on your face, I can tell your blood pressure and heart rate are raised as well. You need them," he told her as he inserted the needle and gave her the dose.

Kylie felt the drugs take effect as soon as it entered her blood stream.

John handed Kylie the gauze to clot the site before getting up and grabbing another bottle out of his bag, walking over to Sherlock and handing it to him discretely.

"Look," John told him in a low voice as Mary spoke to Kylie, "She's going to be in a lot of pain and will probably have trouble sleeping. I'll come by and check on her tomorrow, but if she cant sleep tonight, just slip a quarter of this into her tea, no more."

Sherlock nodded in thanks at his friend as he pocketed the vile, walking over to Kylie and attempting to help her up, only to have her knees buckle beneath her as if her muscles had decided not to work. Sherlock caught her with a strong arm around her waist before she was able to fall too far.

Kylie looked over at him as she began to gain stability, smiling as if she hadn't seen him in year. Sherlock frowned at this odd behavior, noting her eyes seemed glossy, and her pupils were the size of saucers.

"Hheeeyy!" Kylie slurred to him.

"Oh God," Mary laughed, "Apparently she does have a reaction to pain meds."

"You smell good," Kylie told him as she leaned into Sherlock, shoving her face into the crook of his neck and breathing in deeply.

Sherlock stared at the woman in his arms as if she had grown a third head, before looking up at John and Mary with a wide expression.

"Have fun with that," John told him with a smile.

**&amp;#*( #( *) (#)(**

"Kylie for the last time, I am not a pirate!" Sherlock complained in annoyance as he practically carried the woman into the flat.

"Yeah," Kylie said as she stumbled slightly, only to have Sherlock's hands steady her, "But you wanted to be Sherrrrhook!"

"Don't be absurd Kylie," Sherlock told her as he tried to steer her into the bedroom.

"Mycroft told me! It's adorable!" Kylie gushed before she straightened up and gaped, "We should play it in the bedroom!"

"Oh dear Lord," Sherlock muttered. He didn't quite understand what she was on about, but if it was similar to one of the services listed on Irene's website that he had looked up when he was working her case, this was not going to end well.

"You could be the pirate Captain Sherhook and I could be…" Kylie stopped and wavered slightly as she looked at her hands, "Why are my fingers tingly?" Kylie asked before she turned too abruptly, losing her balance and Sherlock caught her with a sigh of annoyance once more.

She began laughing as Sherlock couldn't help but smile as something fluttered through him. She was annoying right now, but her laugh was infectious. Warmth spread through him as she moved her arm to hug him and buried her head in the crook of his neck once more.

Sherlock wrapped his arms around her, feeling the ice bag on her shoulder. He needed to get that off and her into bed. He pulled away reluctantly and began to lift up Kylie's sweatshirt.

"I'm tired," Kylie complained to him as she lifted her right arm up over her head so that Sherlock could pull off the sweatshirt.

"I just need to take this off," Sherlock told her as he began to gently pull off the saran wrap.

"What? My shirt?" Kylie smiled at him.

"The ice bag," Sherlock responded flatly.

"You can take my shirt off too," Kylie told him, "And my pants…"

Sherlock looked at her in confusion.

_Who in the hell was this person? He wanted his Kylie back._

"Okay," Sherlock told her as she set the ice bag on the ground and urged her into the bedroom.

"Are you going to stay?" Kylie asked him, her big blue eyes wide with intrigue.

"I have to work," he told her as he pulled back the covers and made sure she laid down slowly and carefully, covering her up when she was.

"Stay!" Kylie said trying to reach out with her splinted arm, only to yelp and flinch in pain once more.

Sherlock felt something surge through him as he saw the pain on her face.

_He wanted her pain gone. He didn't want her to go through this…_

He brushed some hair out of her face and kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight"

Sherlock walked out into the living room once more and began looking at the models before moving himself to the couch, lying down and folding his hands in front of him.

He didn't know how much time had passed before he felt eyes on him. He opened his eyes and looked over seeing a drugged Kylie holding the comforter standing in front of the couch.

He sighed, shutting his eyes once more.

"Kylie, you need to sleep."

"I cant," she told him in a small voice, "I cant sleep without you next to me."

Sherlock opened his eyes and stared at her, running a hand through her mused hair. He really needed to work, but this was the only way she was going to sleep.

"Come here," Sherlock sighed as he sat up, taking the comforter from her and laid her down gently on the other side of him, so she was trapped between the couch and himself, ensuring her safety before laying down again. Kylie nuzzled into his chest happily as he covered them up with the comforter. Sherlock began to play with her auburn waves, feeling his mind clear itself. It was almost as if his mind at reach a serene calm, allowing him to think far more quickly and clearly that he ever had before.

Maybe instead of nicotine patches, he just needed this woman close to him?

**Review?**


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